Wilbur Rae Ewing, age 93, of Lawrenceville, Illinois passed away on Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Oxford, Ohio.
He was born on December 10, 1927, in Bridgeport, Illinois to Don Lewis and Clara Mahala (Allard) Ewing. He married Rosemary Pinkstaff on June 21, 1950, and she preceded him in death on February 11, 2015.
He attended Bridgeport High School, graduated in 1945 and immediately joined the U.S. Navy and served at Pearl Harbor. He earned his B.S. in business administration and accountancy from the University of Illinois – Champaign in 1949 and joined the Ohio Oil Company. He passed his C.P.A. examination and was admitted to the Illinois Society of Certified Public Accountants in 1951 and accepted a position with Arthur Anderson in Chicago. In 1953, he was elected to membership in the American Institute of Accountants, and in 1955 he was accepted into the Indiana Association of Certified Public Accountants.
He set up his first accounting offices in the Kensler Building in Lawrenceville and on the East side of the square in Robinson in 1953. In the late 1950’s, he moved his Lawrenceville office to State Street and eventually expanded into Ewing and Faust C.P.A. In the 1960’s, he was named President and Treasurer of General Carbon and Chemical Company in Robinson, Illinois and Dakota Salt and Chemical Company in Williston, North Dakota. As chief executive officer for these two companies, he spent many years travelling internationally and negotiated the sale of General Carbon to Union Carbide. He later purchased Dakota Salt in the late 1960’s which was sold to Hardy Salt Company in 1972. Through the 1970’s, he re-established his local office and clients, served as Vice President of Peoples Bank in Lawrenceville, and launched Ewing Oil, Inc., a local petroleum drilling operation. In 1982, his son Jonathan Ewing joined as his partner in the newly established Ewing and Associates, Inc., a financial consulting group, for the next 8 years. He enjoyed researching, writing and discussing stock options and options trading until his passing.
Over his many years in the local business community, he served in various capacities across many organizations, from the B.P.O.E. Lodge 1208, Lawrenceville Rotary Club, Bridgeport Masonic Lodge 386, V.F.W., the Chamber of Commerce, Shriners International, among others and was often called upon to advise local non-profit organizations, including the Lawrenceville High School and the City. He was a member of the First Christian Church of Lawrenceville for more than fifty years. He was respected for his integrity and honesty, along with good humor and empathy.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Robert and Harold; sisters, Elizabeth and Patricia (McVaigh); and his wife of 65 years, Rosemary Pinkstaff Ewing. He is survived his son, Jonathan R. Ewing (Jan Mayfield Ewing) of Taylorsville, Kentucky; daughter, Susan Rae Ewing (Paul W. DeCou) of Oxford, Ohio; and two grandsons, Andrés Nicolas Brown-Ewing (Jenny McArdle), Palmerston North, New Zealand, and Aaron Tomás Brown-Ewing, Oxford, Ohio, currently teaching in Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture, Japan.
Wilbur Rae Ewing was buried in a private ceremony at the Lawrenceville City Cemetery on July 13, 2021. Memorial contributions are suggested for the Shriner’s Children’s Hospital. Emmons-Macey & Steffey Funeral Home in Lawrenceville, Illinois was in charge of the arrangements.
Please visit www.emmonsmaceysteffey.com to view the tribute and to send condolences.