Ted Tumlinson

West Point native Evan Edwards (Ted) Tumlinson died February 26, 2014, at age 91. He was a man who loved vanilla ice cream and his wife Anna Hamilton Terrell (deceased). Everyone and everything else he tolerated. Services will be held Tuesday, March 4, 2014, at 10 a.m. and visitation at 9 a.m. at the Episcopal Church of Incarnation in his hometown. He was the third son and last surviving child of James Homer Tumlinson, Sr., and Roselle Jones Tumlinson of West Point. His siblings were James Homer Tumlinson, Jr., Barbara Tumlinson Foster and William Blackwell Tumlinson. He led an accomplished life, graduating from West Point High School in 1940 and Mississippi State University in 1943 with a degree in aeronautical engineering. He later returned to complete his civil engineering degree. Like many young men of the depression, he said he grew up during WWII. He served as an officer in the Pacific Naval Air Transport Service. Later, in the Korean War he was part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He also served in the 223rd Engineer Battalion, Mississippi National Guard and retired as a lieutenant colonel. In 1950 he married the little sister of his best friend and together they had two daughters, Eva Terrell (Denver) and Sarah Evan (Midland). He proudly explained that much of his later life's success was due to his partnership with his wife Anna, during which he founded Tumlinson Engineers and Comprehensive Planners, served as the first president of the board of Oak Hill Academy, and acted as public works director and contract officer for the U.S. Department of Interior in Pago Pago, American Samoa. After he turned 60, he started a new career, building and owning Burnsville Natural Gas System. He was known for giving wonderful hugs, admiring Beatles songs and commandeering the TV for Hee Haw. He was noted for predicting the last two economic recessions, teasing others a tad too roughly and being terribly sentimental despite a grouchy veneer. He enjoyed reading, dancing and parties. He also cherished being a member of the Episcopal Church of Incarnation. He lived a full life. Besides his daughters, he is also survived by grandsons Evan and John O'Leary (Midland), and son-in-laws David O'Leary (Midland) and Stephen Kovach (Denver). He is the uncle of Bud Tumlinson of West Point and Clay Terrell of Columbus. These gentlemen will serve as pallbearers. Rather than flowers or other remembrances, the family requests interested parties make a donation to a charity of their choice.