George Clifford Earp

Published in the Rocky Mount Telegram on 2/8/2008.

George Clifford Earp George Clifford Earp, U.S. Air Force Retired, died at his home on Feb. 5, 2008.

He was born in Durham, N.C. on Oct. 29, 1918, the fifth of nine children born to John William and Laura Baldwin Earp. His wife, Josie Lee Collins Earp, and grandson, Stephen Earp, predeceased him. He is survived by his children, George W. Earp and wife, Mary, of Fairbanks, Alaska; Carol Earp Ludwig and husband, T.B., of Rocky Mount, N.C.; David Earp and wife, Laura, of Rocky Mount, N.C.; three granddaughters, Susan Earp Ault and husband, Andrew, and Cathy Earp of Fairbanks, Alaska, and Michelle Earp of Chapel Hill, N.C.; sisters Aileen McDonald and husband, Mac, and Ramona Wright; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Prior to entering the U.S. Army in 1940, he was a catcher for the Winston-Salem Twins. He played his first professional baseball game in Rocky Mount in 1938.

He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during WWII. Shortly after WWII, he reentered the service and served until he retired as a Chief Master Sergeant from the Air Force in 1970.

He was a lifetime member of Fort Bragg Lodge 667 at Spring Lake, N.C. and of the Scottish Rite Bodies of Greensboro, N.C. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008 at Englewood United Methodist Church, 300 Circle Drive, Rocky Mount, N.C.

The family will greet friends and family immediately after the service in the fellowship hall. Memorials to Friends of Hospice of Nash General, 2460 Curtis Ellis Drive, Rocky Mount, N.C. 27804 or Englewood United Methodist Church, PO Box 7128, Rocky Mount, N.C. 27804. Online condolences may be sent to the Earp family by visiting www.wheelerandwoodlief.com.

George was a kind and gentle person. He had a profound sense of duty and honor and was a friend to all who knew him. He loved baseball, airplanes, animals, and above all his family. Arrangements by Wheeler and Woodlief Funeral Home, 1130 N. Winstead Avenue, Rocky Mount, N.C. 27804.