Mr. Ernest Arthur Atkinson

October 11, 1935 - May 17, 2022

It is with deep sorrow that Mrs. Harriette Huntley Atkinson announces the death of her beloved husband, Ernest Arthur Atkinson, 86. Mr. Atkinson entered into rest on Tuesday, May 17, 2022. The Directors of Hancock-Elmore-Hill Funeral Home are caring for the family. A graveside service to honor his life will be held at 2 o'clock on Sunday, May 22, 2022, in the High Hill True Light Church Cemetery. Mr. Dwain Watson and Mr. Lynn Young will officiate, and the family will receive friends immediately following the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in his honor to Trellis Supportive Care, 101 Hospice Lane, Winston-Salem, NC 27103. Due to the current Covid-19 Pandemic, the family respectfully requests that guests socially distance themselves and wear masks where appropriate. Mr. Atkinson was a kind and loving husband, father, and friend. As a husband, he loved his wife and honored his marriage to Harriette every day, taking care of anything that she needed as long as he was able. As a father, he provided tender loving care to his beloved first son for the 26 years that Artie was here on the earth. He also devoted himself to teaching and supporting Hal in everything, and imparted many skills to him with the utmost patience. Arthur loved his daughter-in-law, Heidi, as his own. In his later years, he treasured spending time with his grandson, Liam, who became the light of his life. Extended family, friends, and co-workers from SIFCO and Shaw Air Force Base admired him for his kindness, laughter, and charm. He never met a stranger, and he brought many a smile to his close caregivers with his jolly nature even to the end of his life. He will be greatly missed. He is survived by his loving wife, Harriette Huntley Atkinson of Bishopville, SC; son, Hal (Heidi Klepin) Atkinson of Winston-Salem, NC; grandson, Liam Atkinson of Winston-Salem, NC. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his son, Ernest Arthur “Artie” Atkinson, Jr; sisters, Betty Hodge of Sumter, SC, Ada Hinson of Sumter, SC. The family would like to thank Dr. Franklin Watkins of the J. Paul Sticht Center on Aging for his dedicated and compassionate care over the last five years, the many team members at Trellis Supportive Care, Griswold Home Care, and his excellent personal caregivers at home and at Homestead Hills.