Ernest Davis Seneca

Ernest Davis Seneca

Wake Forest

Ernest Davis Seneca died on Thursday evening, November 12, 2015 in Wake County, North Carolina. He was born on June 18, 1937, in Princess Anne County (Virginia Beach), Virginia, the only child of Ernest McCoy and Tiny Davis Seneca. He attended Oceana High School and later was in the first graduating class of Princess Anne High School in 1955. He then went to V.P.I. (Virginia Tech) and in his senior year in the Corps of Cadets was Captain of "G" Company. He credited the Corps for molding his moral fiber and leadership traits which served him well throughout his the rest of his life. He received his B.S. in Forestry in 1959 and having been in the Corps of Cadets ROTC program, was commissioned a 2nd Lt. in the US Army. He then remained at V.P.I. for graduate studies and during that time married Peggy Ann Tyer, the love of his life for 55 years. He received his M.S. in Wildlife Management in 1961. After a temporary position as a biologist with the Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries, he entered active duty at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. After basic officers' training, he was assigned to the 5th Missile Battalion (a Lacrosse guided missile unit) of the 40th Field Artillery, 4th US Army, where he was Reconnaissance & Survey Officer and Assistant Operations Officer. Later he was Intelligence Officer of that battalion and then assigned to the 4th US Army Field Artillery Missile Group Headquarters as Assistant Operations Officer, all at Fort Sill.

Following the Army, he continued his graduate education at North Carolina State University (NCSU) by studying plant ecology under Dr. Arthur W. Cooper. He received his PhD. Degree in Botany in 1967 and immediately began a postdoc under Dr. W.W. Woodhouse and A.W. Cooper continuing his study of the comparative physiological ecology of coastal dune grasses. In 1969 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Botany and Soil Science. He rose through the ranks to Professor of Botany teaching ecology courses and conducting research on coastal dunes and salt marshes. In teaching, he is best remembered for his graduate course in Applied Coastal Ecology and for his field trips in that and other courses. In research, he is best remembered for the restoration of salt marshes along the Atlantic coast of NC and the Brittany coast of France with his colleague Stephen Broome and coworkers Larry Hobbs and Carlton Campbell. He received the Gulf Oil Conservation Award in 1982 for these efforts. His research and that of his colleagues and students were published in over twenty different scientific journals. Although he was a highly successful researcher, he often remarked that classroom teaching and mentoring his graduate students was what being a professor at a university was all about. He was an ecologist through and through. In 1986 he became Head of the Department of Botany, a position he took great pride in and in which he held until his retirement in 1994. Among his most treasured possessions were cards and letters from students who liked his style of teaching and the content of his courses. Also included were letters from students, coworkers, faculty, and administrators who complimented him on his leadership style while Head of Botany. He kept all of these!

Following retirement from NCSU, he and his wife did most of the hands-on work on a cattle operation, with cattle in NC and at their farm in VA. Other than family, Ernest dearly loved Seneca Creek Bend Farm on the Craig/Botetourt County line in mountains of southwestern Virginia. Here, Ernest and Peggy harvested the hay crop, repaired and built fences, mowed pastures, spread manure, vaccinated cattle, and hauled them to market. They also sat on the front porch and viewed wildlife to include: gobblers strutting, deer grazing, bucks sparing, fox squirrels burying nuts, fox kits playing, skunks sauntering by, and an occasional eagle flying over.

As most of his family and friends knew, Ernest had many interests besides cattle. He had a love of real and toy trains and had a collection of the latter. It was in association with annual train conventions that they traveled by automobile all over the country taking in many national parks and other attractions. He also loved to photograph wildflowers and many retirees from the Department of Botany, NCSU, have framed photos to attest to his efforts. The camcorder became one of his greatest toys and he recorded not only family members, but wildlife, trains, scenery, and most anything else that moved. He then edited the films and made VHS tapes and DVDs for the family and friends. One of his real loves was taxidermy, a trade that he practiced since high school. With renewed interest, he attended taxidermy mini-courses at Surry Community College and mounted everything from small mammals and ducks to whole deer and bear. Throughout his adulthood, he only mounted specimens for family and friends (with no monetary compensation). Although not a major avocation, he liked to refinish furniture and the family has several of his pieces at different locations. He also fashioned lamps, writing pens, magnifying glasses, and letter openers from deer antlers, most of which he gave to others. From his youth, he loved to collect most anything; insects, seashells, fossils, shed deer antlers, and postage stamps. It doesn't stop here.

All his life he hunted and meals of wild game were common in the home and they were often shared with coworkers, students, faculty and other friends. He and his son, Ernie, son-in-law, Wayne, and from time to time a handful of friends, hunted together. From the swamps of his native Princess Anne County to the mountains of southwest Virginia and the family farm there, he hunted small game, waterfowl, deer, turkey, and bear. At age 68, he killed a bear in the Virginia mountains and alone, over mountainous terrain for over a mile and a half, he managed to get it back to his truck. He later prepared the meat for the table and did a whole life-size mount of the animal. All said and done, he never lacked for something to do and he had a full and rewarding life.

With all his interests, nothing was more important than his family. He grew up in a home with loving parents and a doting grandmother and had all the necessities of life. From very little in the way of previous written accounts, he wrote the Seneca family history, including spur lineages, and most of his own autobiography. Ernest and Peggy had two children, Ernest Tyer (Ernie) and Sheila McCoy. He is survived by his wife, Peggy, of Wake Forest, NC; daughter, Sheila Seneca Choplin, and husband, Wayne Lewis Choplin, of Youngsville, NC; daughter-in-law, Julie Galloway Seneca, of Raleigh; two grandchildren, Eric Seneca Choplin and his wife Hope Tharrington, and Elizabeth Preddy Choplin of Knightdale and Youngsville, NC, respectively; and one great grandchild, Ella Marie Choplin. He is predeceased by his parents and his son. The loss of the latter was the greatest emotional turmoil of his entire life. Through life's ups and downs, Peggy provided the stability in the family and for her unfaltering love and all that she was to Ernest, he is eternally grateful.

Next to his family, he absolutely loved nature (natural ecosystems) and often remarked that his cathedral on earth was the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest in the Nantahala National Forest in western North Carolina when the ephemeral flora was in full bloom along with the silver bell and his students to share it with. Because of this perspective, a celebration of life service will be held at some time at some natural setting to be announced where family and friends can reminisce. Contributions can be made to your favorite charity or the Botany Enhancement Fund, Box 7612, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695.

A service of Bright Funeral Home and Cremation Center, 405 S. Main Street, Wake Forest, N.C. 27587 (919-556-5811)

www.brightfunerals.com