Ernesto G. “Ernie” Podagrosi, 74, of Tifton died Monday, February 1, 2010, at Tift Regional Medical Center from complications of pneumonia. Visitation will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, February 5, 2010, at Our Divine Savior Catholic Church, followed immediately by a funeral mass at 11:00 a.m. Interment, with military honors, will be in Nashville.
Mr. Podagrosi was born on August 5, 1935 in New Kensington, Pennsylvania and was the son of Ernesto Podagrosi and Lucia DiPalma Podagrosi, both deceased. He was also preceded in death by a son, Victor Ernest Podagrosi. He married Katy B. Roberts of Nashville on August 9, 1953. Though his military career took him all over the world, he was a long-time resident of Rantoul, Illinois, until his move to Tifton in 2008.
He was a 20-year veteran of the United States Air Force, serving as a technical writer and instructor in cryogenic fluids. Following his retirement from active duty, Mr. Podagrosi joined the United States Civil Service to teach, develop curriculum and serve as an administrator for the Minute Man Missile Training Program at Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois. He completed 20 years of service to this program. After retirement, he enjoyed working part-time as a bailiff with the Champaign County Sheriff’s Department.
Mr. Podagrosi graduated in 1952 from Girard College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in anthropology and education administration from the University of Illinois, where he earned the designation of James Scholar and was honored with the Huston Award, a university-wide speech award. He was an affiliate member of the Illinois Archeological Society and served as the organization’s resident expert to identify artifacts found in Champaign County.
He was devoted to the Catholic Church, especially at St. Malachy’s in Rantoul an most recently, at Our Divine Savior in Tifton. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus, Fourth Degree. Other interests included a life-long love of fishing and anthropological excavations. He also enjoyed the study of U.S. history, focusing on the study of stamps, postcards and ballads as vehicles for fostering American ideals.
Mr. Podagrosi is survived by his wife of 56 years, Katy; two daughters and sons-in-law, Rebecca Ann and Walter Jarboe of Tifton and Jo-Ella and Joseph Spratt of Oak Park, Illinois; a son, Andrew Max Podagrosi of Dothan, Alabama; a daughter-in-law, June Podagrosi of Chicago, Illinois; a sister and brother-in-law, Jo-Ann and Albert Kane of Fort Myers, Florida; and seven grandchildren.