PASSAGES: ERNEST EWIN, FORMER LA MESA COUNCILMAN AND CIVIC LEADER

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Councilman Ernie Ewin  at the La Mesa railway depot, during kickoff of the city's 2012  Centennial.

January 3, 2024 (La Mesa) -- Former La Mesa City Councilman Ernest “Ernie” Ewin died December 28, 2023 at age 76 in Utah from complications of vascular dementia.  Ewin served 18 years on the City Council, previously serving on the city’s planning commission, and held many other civic leadership positions, contributing to East County communities in the fields of education, healthcare, and more.

Ewin represents the City on the Metropolitan Transit Board (MTS), where he has chaired the audit committee. He chaired the Metro Waste Water Joint Powers Authority and served as Executive Director of the Grossmont College Foundation’ board of directors and as donor relations specialist for the Foundation for Grossmont & Cuyamaca Colleges. In addition, he was Chairman of the Prop G Grossmont Healthcare District's Independent Oversight Committee and served on the board of the East County Visitors’ Bureau.

 He was also  a founding member of the San Diego Trolley Board of Directors, past member of the County of San Diego Finance Review Panel, past Chairman of the San Diego County Organization Assessment Panel, and past Chairman of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca District's Prop R Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee. He also chaired a volunteer finance committee for the city’s 2012 Centennial celebration.

 He worked for over 30 years in the banking and financial service industry, including at Grossmont Bank, and owned the Ewin & Associates consulting firm.   

On the City Council, he was known as a strong supporter of the local business community, calling the downtown a “treasure” in a 2010 interview with East County Magazine. He also supported unity and congeniality  in politics, hosting a luncheon each election day to bring together office holders, candidates, and members of the media.

He was born in 1947, in Providence, Rhode Island. Raised in East County, where he lived since 1952, Ewin attended all local schools including Murray Manor Elementary and Fletcher Hills Elementary and Our Lady of Grace. He graduated from defunct University High, Grossmont College and San Diego State University with a degree in economics/finance. Ewin was student body president at Grossmont College in 1968-69.

He was married to his wife, Nancy, for 53 years and is survived by his children, Chessa Konold, Arden Jones (Kevin), Samantha Willhite (Billy), J. Corban Ewin; grandchildren-- Finley Konold (Rose), Brennan Konold, Maddyn Lowder (Jack), Lorien Konold, Caelen Jones, Ewin Jones, Lillien Jones, Durgin Jones, Vera Willhite; and one great-grandchild, Wynn Konold. Ernie's surviving siblings are Lee Ewin (Terri), Bill Ewin, and Susan Ogburn (Mark.) His parents, brother Steve, and granddaughter Raina predeceased him.

An active member of the Church of  Latter Day Saints, he held the positions of Scout Master, Stake High Councilor, Bishopric Counselor, and Branch President.

In a 2006 interview with the East County California, he voiced love for the “sense of community” in East County neighborhoods. A Republican,  Ewin saw an important role for government to be involved in “making things happen, not being obstructionist.” 

He also recalled fondly his childhood days in East County, catching bullfrogs in creeks, making rafts and playing at Tom Sawyer, watching cowboys herd cattle around a barn near Fletcher Parkway, and riding horseback near Lake Cuyamaca.

Upon his retirement from the City Council in 2014,  the San Diego Union-Tribune reported, “Ewin said some of this proudest accomplishments were being part of the city’s efforts to create new housing, including the condominiums along Fletcher Parkway, the elevator at the Grossmont Center Trolley stop, his request granted for periodic public updates of the city’s financial status, helping pass Propositions L (sales tax increase, 2008) and D (fire, police and emergency services bond measure, 2004) and rehabilitation of parks throughout the city.”

Despite his sometimes clashes with long-time Mayor Art Madrid, Madrid praised the long-serving Councilman upon Ewin’s retirement.

“We can all look back to the contributions council members have made individually and collectively, and in the long term, Mr. Ewin has made decisions that are in best interests of the city,” Madrid said.

A memorial service will be held on Monday, February 19, 2024, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 951 E 100 S, Salt Lake City, Utah 84102 at 11:00 a.m.

For those who would like, a Zoom Link is available: https://zoom.us/my/eleventhward Password: 84102

Ewin's ashes will be buried at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Utah.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Grossmont-Cuyamaca College Foundation fund for foster children who have “aged out” of the system

and are on their own. This fund provides emergency money to assist them and makes it  possible for them to continue their training and education.

The link to make donations is: https://app.donorview.com/gkJrn