Memorial services for Malcolm “Mal” R. Ernest of Albert Lea, were held on Thursday at Bonnerup Funeral Service, Albert Lea. The Rev. Lee Freshour officiated. Interment was in Hillcrest Cemetery.
Mal died on Sunday, July 6, 2008, at the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis. He was 90.
He was born on Oct. 26, 1917, in Albert Lea, the son of Lewis and Minnie (Hendrickson) Ernest. He graduated from Albert Lea High School and then with a degree in forestry from the University of Minnesota.
Malcolm enlisted and served our country as an Air Force pilot during World War II. He received the rank of captain, serving from October of 1943 until his honorable discharge in 1947.
Mal married Eva Dombroske on Jan. 27, 1942, in Georgia.
Malcolm had owned and operated Ernest Ice Cream Store on Clark Street, raised mink and then for more than 30 years had Ernest Construction Company, building several area homes.
He will be missed by his wife Eva; daughter Bobbie and her husband Robert Kapischke of Albert Lea; son Jay Ernest also, of Albert Lea; grandchildren: Michael Kapischke and his wife Cindy of Bloomington and Kathy and her husband Tony Linder of Apple Valley; eight great- grandchildren; and many other relatives.
He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother and a sister.