Ernest W. Force, Jr.
Ernest W. Force, Jr. (Ernie) went home to be with his Lord and Savior on Jan. 9, 2021.
Ernie was born in Philipsburg on May 25, 1937. He was the son of the late Ernest and Elsie (Lapps) Force. He grew up in Grassflat where, he stated many times, he had a very enjoyable childhood. Baseball in the summer, ice skating and skiing in the winter, fishing and hunting all the time, for what more could a kid ask.
After graduating from Cooper Twp. High School in 1955, he went to work at Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna, N.Y. where he decided the Buffalo winters were too much for him and he returned to Clarence, Pa. to the J. H. France Refractories.