"For lo, the winter is past,

the rain is over and gone;

the flowers appear on the earth;

the time of the singing of birds is come,

and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land."

I don’t know what turtles sound like, but I have always imagined that they sounded like Ernie Harwell. When Ernie would come on the air on a cold March Michigan afternoon, wish everyone a “Happy New Year,” and say that “the voice of the turtle is heard in our land,” I always assumed that he was referring to himself.

Ernie saying that “winter is past” would give hope that the long Michigan winter was coming to an end, even if there was six inches of snow on the ground. Hearing Ernie brought memories of those summer evenings up north at the cottage that seemed so far off. Ernie would bring hope with the first spring training game each year that the warm Florida sun would soon be headed north.

Summers with Ernie ended in 2002, Ernie’s last season as the Tigers’ broadcaster. But Ernie was still around doing interviews and ads. You always hoped that he might pop back in the both for a few innings just to talk and you did not want to miss it when he did.

But now Ernie is gone, he is not coming back and baseball will never sound the same.

For Ernie what had to be the longest winter of his life has finally past. Ernie was given only a few months to live last summer and had originally said that he hoped to make it to Christmas and his January 25^th birthday. Ernie did that and made it to another baseball season, something that he did not expect to see.

Everyone knew that the news of Ernie’s death was coming, every once in a while you might think about him and wonder how he was holding on for so long.

Then the news came and you were still surprised and you were not ready.

Ernie was beloved within the State of Michigan, but it extended beyond that. Ernie’s Tigers broadcasts on WJR could be heard throughout the Midwest and eastern North America. He was the voice of baseball for so many and loved by them all.

There is a broadcast booth named for Ernie not only in Detroit, but in Cleveland. The place where he called his first regular season Tigers game from the bleachers.

Ernie never seemed concerned about what he was going through, but rather he was content with it. Ernie had more faith then anyone you will ever meet. He put his trust in Christ and knew that a heavenly reward awaited him.

Ernie’s speech last September was an amazing sight; think about if you were dying, would you be able to talk so openly about it? I know I wouldn’t.

Our loss is heavens gain. Today I suspect Ernie is in a broadcast both calling a game for the millions of Tigers’ fans who have gone before him. The stadium resembles the one that once stood on the corner of Michigan and Trumbull. The Bird is on the mound with Detroit’s original Georgia Peach in center field and there is a foul ball being caught by “a women from Jackson.”

The voice of the turtle is still heard, just no longer in our land.