Final Salute

Elmer Arnold Birkett – Died Sunday August 7 th at the Halifax Health Hospice in Ormond Beach
Florida. He was born on Apr 20th, 1931, in Washington DC and was 91 years old when he died.
He is survived by his wife (of 63 years) G Bernice (Lord), sister Elizabeth P Hefner, son Craig
(Yan) and Clayton (Jennifer) Birkett, daughter Cynthia (Aaron) Hoogerwerf, 6 grandchildren, and
1 great grandchild. He was preceded in death by siblings Ernest Birkett, Eleanor Knight, William,
and David.
Arnold grew up on a little farm in Suitland Maryland. At age 15 his father bought a farm in
Culpeper Virginia where he attended school and worked with his brothers for a year. The next
year they moved back to Forestville, Maryland. After high school he enlisted in the Navy and
was sent to Adak Alaska and then to Subic Bay Philippines. During the Navy service he served as
a Seabee and learned construction. After the Navy he enrolled in Emmaus Bible School in Oak
Park, Illinois where he met his future wife, Gretta Bernice Lord. He then joined his brother
Ernie to work in Birkett & Birkett Builders for 4 years. In 1963 he built a house in Port Tobacco
Maryland where he lived for about 30 years. In Port Tobacco he and Bernice raised 3 children
(Craig, Clayton, and Cynthia). They attended the First Baptist Church of La Plata. After Port
Tobacco he lived in Florida, New Bern, NC, and Silver Spring MD. For the last 10 years, he and
Bernice have been living in Palm Coast Florida near his daughter Cynthia.
Arnold was a general contractor for 40 years and built many residential houses throughout
southern Maryland, which he frequently pointed out to his children and friends. As he got
older, he also served as an interim pastor at churches in southern Maryland for several years.
In his retirement years he bought an RV and traveled with Bernice throughout the country for
several years while also taking up scuba diving in the Caribbean.
“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so
shall we ever be with the Lord.”
The funeral service will be held on Thursday August 11, 2022 at 10:30am at the First Baptist Church of Palm Coast, FL. The interment will be held on August 29, 2022 at 1:00pm at the Cedar Hill Cemetery in Suitland, MD. In lieu of flowers, charitable donations in Elmer’s honor are encouraged to:
1. Christian Missions in Many Lands https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=my.donations.makedonation&ein=132688413&
2. Alzheimer’s Foundation of America https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=my.donations.makedonation&ein=911792864

Published by Heritage Funeral & Cremation Service on Aug. 9, 2022.