Erit Bartholomew McTernan, born August 15, 1928 in Brooklyn, NY passed peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday, December 6h in his Laguna Woods home at the age of 94.

Erit was lovingly known as "Papa" to his entire family which included his wife of 58 years (Kathy, passed Jan 2017) and his son Colin and daughter Helen.  He will be missed dearly by his brother Eddie,  his grandsons Hayden, Cole and Owen, his granddaughter Emily and his sons-in law Tom, Michael and daughter-in-law Patti.

Erit grew up in the New Haven, CT and New York area and enjoyed many summers on Long Island where he was a lifeguard at Jones Beach.  He was pre-deceased by his sisters Grace and Ann, both of whom he adored.

He went to university at NYU in New York City for two years and then moved to California to finish his undergraduate work at UC Berkely.   Soon thereafter he met Kathy and began a lifelong marriage that lasted nearly 60 years.  Together they travelled the world visiting over 100 countries and six continents during their marriage which included living in Hacienda Heights, Los Feliz and Pasadena before settling into retirement in Laguna Woods.

He was a member of the Army's 5 ^th Cavalry (Regimental Legal Officer), trained at Fort Benning, GA  and served in the Korean War.   Up until his final days he was a very proud veteran who always wore his Army hats and loved visiting the Veterans Administration facilities that he frequented.

Erit worked for many years in the Health Insurance industry for companies such as Blue Cross, Fireman's Fund and others before starting his own company, EBM, Inc. which he ran for several decades.

To all that knew him, Erit was the consummate optimist—always positive, never complaining about anything.  He had a life-long love affair with golf which led him to the Laguna Woods golf course community and was known by all the members and staff there simply as "Mac."

A true family man, the only thing that Erit loved more than golf and "LW" as he called Laguna Woods was his family.  His greatest pleasure in life was continually planning the next family get-together with his children and grandchildren.  Whether it was golf, skiing, camping, travelling or just dining together, family activities were always his priority.  He rarely missed a single soccer game, baseball game or dance competition that included his grandchildren.

A military service will be held at Miramar National Cemetery on January 12 ^th at 11:30 in San Diego, CA.  In addition, a Celebration of Life for Erit will be held at Laguna Woods Golf Course-Club House # 2 (24112 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Woods, CA) on January 22 ^nd from 11:00 to 3:00.  Attendees are respectively asked to wear colorful casual golf-attire (no black).  For further details regarding services, please contact either Colin McTernan (702) 416-3268/ colin@premieros.net or Helen MacKinnon (949) 677-6448/ helenshearth@yahoo.com.