Rutland Daily Herald Editorial
Wednesday, September 10, 1986
As far as the Vermont public is concerned, Ernest Flanders, who died Saturday in Springfield at 91, was not widely known. He was, you might say always in the pubic shadow of his nationally-known brother, the late U.S. Senator Ralph E. Flanders. Some younger brothers inight resent such a role, but this didn't seem to be a problem with Ernest. He carved out his own niche as a design engineer who filled a critcal role at the Jones & Lamson Machine Co. where his brother was president in the World War II era.
But he shunned the limelight. He never sought public office, preferring instead a more quiet community role as a leader and spokesman for Springfield Hospital. The fact that he was identified with the hospital was important in those years of expansion. when the goodwill of well-heeled donors was of utmost importance. Over the years he earned for himself a lot of community prestige.
Ernest Flanders in 1959
But his most vital service was to the machine tool industry. To Springfield people, he wasn't known as an inventor, as was his brother. Still, it's hard to be a design engineer --especially the chief engineer --without being an inventor. What most of us don't understand is the tremendous amount of detail that goes into the development of a machine, or an idea for a machine before it takes its final shape. The final design is, "a long way down the road," as they say in bureaucratic circles, after an idea has been accepted. That was the task for which someone like Ernest Flanders was admirably suited: He, and his staff were responsible for the scores of little "inventions"that were in the final design of each new inachine. His work, especially during World War II, was vital to the smooth functioning of the nation's industry and the success of its war effort.