Ernestine Kea

(1939-1984)

Ernestine was born on December 20th, 1939 in Charleston, South Carolina. She was the third of nine children of Elijah and Earnestine Robinson (née Singleton). Her family is listed as negro in the 1950 U.S. Federal Census and her father as a church pastor.

In 1969 at 29, Ernestine married Thomas Jackson Kea of Currie, North Carolina in New York City. In 1984 Ernestine was listed as living in Brooklyn, New York. Ernestine died on April 23, 1984 at the age of 44 and was buried in Plot 153, Section 1, Grave 4 on Hart Island. Ernestine was the first of her siblings to pass, although she was not forgotten. She was mentioned in the obituary of her younger brother Bobby Robinson who passed in 2002.

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