Earl Andrew Cornelius was born January 4, 1931, in Iredell County, North Carolina, to the late Ivey Cornelius, Sr. and Tincy Sherrill Cornelius. Earl departed this earthly life on Saturday morning, March 27, 2021, at the Gordon Hospice House, Statesville, North Carolina, after a brief illness at the age of 90 years.
He attended school in the Iredell County School System. He enlisted into the United States Army in January 1952 and served his country in many capacities and in quite a few areas abroad including Hawaii and was honorably discharged from the Army in 1954, at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
Earl was an avid outdoorsman; he loved to work in the soil growing many different plants including banana trees, coconut plants, lemon trees and many others, not to forget his bountiful vegetable garden. He loved to fish and hunt with his cousins. He spent most of his adult life in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and retired from the Dupont Chemical Company as a chemical mixer.
Earl was preceded in death in addition to his parents, three brothers, Baby Boy Cornelius, Ivey Cornelius, Jr., and Salvin Graham; seven sisters, Hazel Cornelius, Sadie Patterson, Gladys Lineberger, Cordie Houston, Zenobia Houston, Margenette Harper, and Eloise Long, and granddaughter Samara Harris.
He married the love of his life Eva Caldwell, and they were married for over fifty years.
Earl leaves to cherish many sweet memories his wife of fifty plus years, Eva Caldwell Cornelius of Mooresville, NC, two children, Elizabeth Geneva Cornelius Harris of Statesville, NC, and Derrick Andrew Cornelius of Charlotte, NC; two sisters, Daisy Lee Bryant of Brooklyn, New York and Nellie C. Work of Statesville, NC; one sister-in-law, Ruth Kerns of Mooresville, NC, two brothers-in-law, Dennis Long of Denver, NC, and Clinton Caldwell (Faye) of Mooresville, NC, grandchildren, Jermaine Harris, Denita Plair and Sandy Harris , ten great grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren. A special niece Monica Harris and her husband Robert. A host of nieces, nephews, other relatives, and friends also survive.
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