Born on the family farm outside of New Sarepta, AB on January 31, 1931, Ernie passed away at his home in Lethbridge on Boxing Day, December 26, 2024 at the age of 93.

Ernie worked hard all his life. He left the farm at 18 to work for the Imperial Lumber Company in Edmonton, where he met his wife Kae, and would eventually become the branch manager. They then moved to Calgary where Ernie managed the Calgary branch before moving again to Lethbridge to manage Hoyt’s Hardware in 1970. After managing Hoyt’s for 10 years, he opened Classic Colour Center, his own paint and wallpaper store. After Kae became ill in 1981, he sold the store to Freddie’s Paint, and then worked for them for nearly 20 years, retiring at the young age of 75.

Ernie also played hard, right up to the end. He played hockey and pitched baseball in his teens and twenties, and was an avid golfer and bowler, enjoying those games throughout his life and well into his eighties. Also enjoyed into his eighties was his love of dancing and music, travelling to several old-time country music festivals throughout western Canada and the U.S. He spent many years as the president of the Lethbridge Revellers, and just this past October, he went on the last of the several dozen casino trips he helped organize to Calgary, Edmonton, B.C., and Saskatchewan. He also enjoyed playing cards at every opportunity, playing pool, socializing, and having coffee with the boys at the seniors’ center.

Ernie was predeceased by his wife, Donna-Kae Resler (Krause), parents Lydia and Gotlieb, four brothers and three sisters-in-law Eddie and Betty, Alven and Fran, Edgar and Joyce, and Armen, and brother-in-law Cliff Zeiner. He is survived by special friend Dorothy Kometz, sister Inez Zeiner, children Dale (Karen), Audra-Dawn (Dave) Stinson, and Derek (Tracy), grandchildren Courtney and Chrissy Stinson, and Morgan and Alex Resler, and numerous nieces and nephews.

A Celebration of Life will be held at IMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH, 20 Rocky Mountain Blvd West, Lethbridge, AB, on Friday, January 3, 2025 at 11:00 A.M. with Pastor Lee Loveridge officiating.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Heart and Stroke (www.heartandstroke.ca) in Ernie’s memory.