LEO WINGATE Jr.

Leo Wingate, Jr., the first general manager of the Covington (Tenn.) Electric System and retired from there after 29 years, died at age 91 of complications from Alzheimer’s disease April 15, 2010, in Poulsbo, Wash. Services will be Thursday, April 22, at Kilmichael (Miss.) United Methodist Church, with visitation at 10 a.m., funeral at 11 a.m. and interment to follow in Friendship Cemetery in Kilmichael. Mr. Wingate, son of Leo Applewhite Wingate and Lillian Ione (Kent) Wingate of Kilmichael, was born (Feb. 14, 1919) and reared in Kilmichael, graduating from Big Black Consolidated High School in 1936. He then graduated from Mississippi State College in 1940 with a degree in electrical engineering. He was a charter member of Theta Xi social fraternity and a four-year member of the men’s chorus. He enlisted in the aviation cadet program of the then-Army Air Corps on Aug. 21, 1942, and was sworn in as a second lieutenant May 31, 1943. He was an engineering officer in a B-17 squadron in the 8th Air Force, 487th Bomb Group, in England during World War II, returning at the end of hostilities in the European Theater of Operations, where he earned the European, African and Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with six stars. He remained in the Air Force Reserve until he retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1970. He was a life member of the Retired Officers Association, the American Legion and the National Rifle Association. He was a registered professional engineer in Mississippi and Tennessee and had worked in the consulting engineering business for 12 years before going to Covington as the general manager. He was a past president of the Covington Lions Club, the Covington/Tipton County Chamber of Commerce, the West Tennessee Industrial Association and the West Tennessee Electric Utility Managers Association. He also served on the board of directors of the Tennessee Municipal Electric Power Association and the Central Service Association. He was active in the community performing volunteer work with the schools, bands and choruses for 16 years and working in and with the Tipton County Fine Arts Council. He was a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. A lifelong Methodist, he had been a member of Covington First United Methodist Church since 1958, had served on the administrative board and was head of two committees; and had been a member of the chancel choir for 44 years. Mr. Wingate married Shirley Dean La Rue of Helena, Ark., on his birthday in 1942 in Kilmichael. He is survived by his wife of 68 years; three sons, Leo Kent Wingate of Beavercreek, Ohio; Francis Leighton Wingate of Seattle; and Lorin Allen Wingate of Bainbridge Island, Wash.; and three grandchildren, Leighton Kent Wingate of Dayton, Ohio; Justin Oliver Wingate of Los Angeles; and Lillian “Lilly” Chastain Wingate of Bainbridge Island. An online memorial can be seen at www.lewischapel.com. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org). Arrangements are entrusted to: Lee Funeral Home. (662)283-4515