AUBURNDALE - Charles Ernest Gutteridge, 77, of Auburndale, FL died February 3, 2008 at Good Shepherd Hospice due to lung cancer. 

Born November 25, 1930, in Homestead, Florida he moved to Auburndale in 1942.  He graduated from Auburndale High School in 1949, where he was involved in the 4-H Club and was captain of the football team.  Ernest attended Emory University prior to joining the U.S. Air Force.  Following his discharge in 1955, Ernest returned to Auburndale where he joined his father’s business, Gutteridge Insurance Agency. 

Throughout his life, Ernest was active in the community life of Auburndale.  As a young man, he served the youth of Auburndale through Little League, Boy Scouts and at the First Presbyterian Church.  He was a dedicated member of the Auburndale Chamber of Commerce and the Auburndale Lions Club, receiving the Melvin Jones Fellow Award, Lion’s highest service award.  Ernest was an avid outdoorsman and worked tirelessly to protect Lake Marianna from environmental degradation. 

He is preceded in death by: his wife, Jolene Morrell Gutteridge; his parents, Clarence and Mary; a brother, Clarence; and a sister, Betty.

He is survived by: 2 daughters, Patti Meire and her husband Leo of Richmond, VA and Susan Brown of St. Louis, MO; 2 step-daughters, JoLynne Wigginton and her husband Stephen of Bradenton, FL and Carol Alvarez and her husband Domingo of Winter Haven, FL; a brother, Frank Gutteridge of Birmingham, AL; 7 grandchildren, Hilaire and Charles Meire, Claudia and Ridge Brown, Emily and Domingo Alvarez and Lindsay Alexann Wigginton. 

The family will receive friends from 5:00pm till 7:30pm, Wednesday, February 6, 2008 at Oak Ridge Funeral Care, 2425 Havendale Blvd., Winter Haven, FL.  Funeral Services will be held at 11:00am, Thursday, February 7, 2008 in the Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Richard Huggins officiating.  Interment will follow at Auburndale Memorial Park.   

Memorial contributions can be made to the Lions Camp for Visually Handicapped, 2819 Tiger Lake Road, Lake Wales, Florida 33853.