Ernie Fletcher - Early Life

Early Life

Ernie Fletcher was born in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, on November 12, 1952. He was the third of four children born to Harold Fletcher, Sr. and his wife, Marie. The family owned a farm and operated a general store near the community of Means. Harold Fletcher also worked for Columbia Gas. When Ernie was three weeks old, Harold was transferred to Huntington, West Virginia. Two years later, the Fletchers returned to Robertson County, Kentucky, where they lived until Ernie Fletcher began the first grade. The family moved once more and finally settled in Lexington.

Fletcher attended Lafayette High School in Lexington where he was a member of the National Beta Club. During his senior year, he was an all-state saxophone player and was elected prom king. After graduating in 1970, he enrolled at the University of Kentucky. He pledged and became a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. After his freshman year, he married his high school sweetheart, Glenna Foster. The couple had two children, Rachel and Ben, and four grandchildren.

Fletcher aspired to become an astronaut, and joined the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps. In 1974, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering, graduating with top honors. After graduation, he joined the U.S. Air Force. After flight training in Oklahoma, he was stationed in Alaska where he served as a F-4E Aircraft Commander and NORAD Alert Force Commander. During the Cold War, his duties included commanding squadrons to intercept Soviet military aircraft. In 1980, as budget cutbacks were reducing his squadron's flying time, Fletcher turned down a regular commission in the Air Force. He left the Air Force with the rank of captain, having received the Air Force Commendation Medal and the Outstanding Unit Award.

Fletcher enrolled in the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, hoping that a medical degree, along with a military background, would earn him a civilian spot on a space mission. In 1984, he graduated medical school with a Doctor of Medicine degree, but his deteriorating eyesight forced him to abandon his dreams of becoming an astronaut.

In 1983, the Lexington Primitive Baptist church that Fletcher attended ordained him as a lay minister. In 1984, he opened a family medical practice in Lexington. Along with former classmate Dr. James D. B. George, he co-founded the South Lexington Family Physicians in 1987. For two years, he concurrently held the title of Chief Executive Officer of the Saint Joseph Medical Foundation, an organization that solicits private gifts to Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lexington. In 1989, Fletcher's church called him to become its unpaid pastor, but over the years, he grew to question some of the church's doctrines, desiring it to become more evangelistic. Consequently, he left the Primitive Baptist denomination in 1994 and joined the Porter Memorial Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist congregation.