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Ted Dickey Funeral Home obituary
2128 18th Street, Plano, TX 75074 | 972-424-4511

Erskine Williams Hightower
November 27, 1923 - May 11, 2016

Funeral Service
Saturday, May 28, 2016 | 10:00 am
Ted Dickey Funeral Home
2128 18th St., Plano, Texas 75074
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Erskine Williams Hightower Jr., age 92, joined his beloved wife in eternal rest on Wednesday morning, May 11, 2016 in Bryan, Texas.

He was born on November 27, 1923 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, the son of Erskine Wiliams Hightower Sr. and Josephine Sample. When the life of his parents brought him to Houston, Texas, he met and courted his high school sweetheart and the love of his life, Doris Ware (1923 – 2007). Following their time at San Jacinto High School, Erskine attended Texas A&M where he was a member of the First Battalion and the Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 1944.

Shortly before being called to duty during World War II, Erskine was transferred to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma for Officer Candidate School. Following his training, he was commissioned as an officer and married on the same day. He served as a forward observer in battle and was told not to expect a long life. A short life he did not have, as he survived 151 days in combat, including the Battle of the Bulge. For his honorable service, he received many awards, including a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.

Upon returning to the U.S. on New Year's Eve of 1945, he toasted the new year with milk and started the rest of his life. He completed his Aeronautical Engineering degree at Texas A&M in 1947, and began work at the Bryan News in Bryan, Texas. Having acquired an interest for photography while managing a makeshift developing lab during the war, he began to pictorially preserve the lives of his family and others for years to come.

A job opportunity presented itself at Texas Instruments in Dallas, so Erskine and Doris moved their family to north Texas. He spent 31 years as an engineer with the company, culminating in a position managing the Work Simplification group, and offering training to other employees. He believed his time in the army helped him in civilian life: "In the line, you were on your own. You had to make important decisions, and you had to make them fast. That experience has served me well."

After his retirement, Erskine busied himself with numerous hobbies, including woodworking and golf. He taught his granddaughters how to fish and drive a golf cart, he taught himself how to play the piano, and his best gardening advice was "don't try to keep the rabbits out of the lettuce, plant some for them too!" Ever the Aggie, he was rarely seen without his maroon cap, and A&M football games were always recorded on VHS to be sped through for the "good parts". His favorite leisure attire was an array of polyester jumpsuits, and he maintained a svelte figure on his wife's cooking with healthy portions of peanut M&M's and Oreos.

Though the Hightowers lived all around Texas throughout their lives, more recently in Wimberley and Hilltop Lakes, he never traveled outside the U.S. again. Multiple trips out west and to Las Vegas were highly anticipated vacations, as were trips to visit family and friends.

Erskine was preceded in death by his wife Doris, his two sons, Erskine "Butch" III and Mike, and his sister Josephine. He is survived by his brother Bill, of Birmingham, Alabama, his granddaughters Kimberly, of Omaha, Nebraska, and Leah, of San Antonio, Texas, his great grandchildren, Will, Claire, and Evelyn, as well as many nieces and nephews.

Services will be held on Saturday, May 28, 2016 at 10:00 AM at the Ted Dickey Funeral Home, located at 2128 18th Street, Plano, TX 75074.

Burial will follow at Plano Mutual Cemetery with full Army Military Honors accorded.