Ethel-Jo (EJ) Kerwer, 86, of Punta Gorda, Florida, passed away Saturday, November 15, 2008 at Charlotte Regional Medical Center in Punta Gorda.

Ethel-Jo (EJ to her many friends) was born November 16, 1921 in Venango County, Pennsylvania, near the city of Bullion to Philip and Ada Gladys Antill. There she spent her pre-school years and resided for several years after completing high school in Ridgefield Park, NJ. EJ worked 23 years for New Jersey Bell Telephone Company, where she held management positions in Teaneck, Newark and Madison. As N.J. Bell ushered in its early computer systems, EJ became a skilled computer programmer. Her primary responsibility covered the design and maintenance of toll billing operations software, a major revenue source.

In 1979, she sought and received a transfer to AT&T in Orlando. There she worked on the administrative management staff of the Legal Department as part of a special task force assembled to deal with the Department of Justice vs. AT&T divestiture lawsuit. Responding to the attorneys’ varying needs as the trial evolved, EJ analyzed data and prepared trial support documentation for the attorneys. In 1985, she took early retirement and moved to Punta Gorda, where she resided in Pirate Harbor.

EJ was a Civil Air Patrol member, flying as an observer on a number of missions with her husband George, a CAP pilot. She also had an ongoing interest in NASCAR Sprint Cup series auto racing. She is a member of the Platinum Point Yacht Club, where she worked on Olympic Trials sailing regattas, ran a weekly bridge group and crocheted blankets for the Linus Group, which were given to ailing children and to our wounded warriors. EJ served for a number of years as Secretary of the Charlotte County Parliamentarians and was the charter Secretary of the Pirate Harbor Property Owners’ Association for which she maintained the community property owner database.

She is survived by her beloved husband of 39 years, George F. Kerwer of Punta Gorda; two daughters, Karen Mordenti of Spring Hill, FL, and Jacqueline Blakeman of Old Tappan, New Jersey; four grandchildren, JoAnn Mordenti of Altamonte Springs, FL, Danny Paul Mordenti and ToniAnn Crayton, both of Spring Hill, FL, and Michelle Shock of Dumont, NJ; seven great grandchildren; one brother, Paul Antill of Gloucester, VA., and one sister, Marion Riozzi of Hampton, VA.