John Ervin Fondren Jr.

John Ervin Fondren Jr., formerly of Moncks Corner, died at his home in Mount Pleasant, S.C., on Sunday, February 5, 2012. He was 85 years old.

Mr. Fondren was born December 15, 1926, in Talledega County , Alabama, the son of John Ervin Fondren Sr., and Vera Billingsley Fondren.

He served eight years in the U.S.Navy and was a veteran of World War II and the Korean War.
He was a member of American Legion Post 126, and had served as Legion Commander in the mid 1960s. He was owner of Fondren Construction Company where he worked for 25 years. He then joined the Berkeley County Water and Sanitation Authority and retired in 1992. At that time, he operated Fondren Soils, Inc. until 2003.

He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Betty Jo Fondren of Mount Pleasant, S.C.: his daughter, Beth Fondren and her husband, Eddie Twilley, of Mount Pleasant; a son, John E. Fondren III and his wife, Melissa, of Moncks Corner; two grandsons, John E. Fondren IV and J. Evan Fondren, both of Moncks Corner; and two step grandsons, Ben F. Twilley of Columbia, S.C. and Stewart A. Twilley of Greenville, S.C. He was predeceased by a daughter, Janice Elaine Fondren and a sister, Elaine F. Forbis.

His funeral service was held at RUSSELL FUNERAL CHAPEL, Moncks Corner, Tuesday afternoon, February 7, 2012, at 1 o’clock . Interment followed in Berkeley Memorial Gardens. The family received friends at Russell Funeral Chapel, Moncks Corner, between 5:30 and 7:30 Monday evening.

Memorials may be made to Odyssey Hospice of Charleston, 5965 Core Road, Suite 603, North Charleston, S. C. 29406, or to Moncks Corner United Methodist Church, 200 North Live Oak Drive, Moncks Corner, S. C. 29461.