Originally from South Dakota, Earl and his family, including six siblings, moved to Springfield
in the early 1950s. Earl attended school in Springfield, graduating from Springfield High
School. along with his future wife, Christina. Earl and Christina dated in college. When she
graduated from the UO, she moved to L.A. Shortly after her move, they married and Earl
finished his college degree in accounting at Cal State Los Angeles. After graduation, he was
hired by Haskins & Sells, CPAs at their main office in downtown L.A. He first became
interested in real estate and invested in an apartment building in L.A. in 1972.
After five years, the couple moved back to Springfield, where Earl joined the Eugene CPA firm,
Minihan, Kernutt and Stokes. In 1979, he went out on his own, establishing the firm of Fleek,
McElhany & Merwin, CPAs. He retired from his CPA practice in 2012, but continued his
life-long interest in real estate, developing property, mostly in Springfield. Their family includes
daughter Nicole, son-in-law Chris & grandson Zach, all in Portland. Earl and Christina have
been married for 54 years.
Earl is a founding member of the Springfield Twin Rivers Rotary in 1980, a member of the club
for 42 years. Over the years he has also been an active member of the Rental Owners Association
and the Eugene PC Users Club. For fun, he enjoys putting computers together and helping
friends and family with their computer and technology problems.
He and his wife have attended Shedd events for many years, starting with the Oregon Festival of
American Music. While attending the Shedd’s annual picnic one year, they decided to bid on
the “season pass,” tickets to all Shedd events and they won! Their goal was to expand their
music appreciation and to be able to share tickets with friends. After the first year, they were
hooked and felt they had much more to learn so they continued to bid on the “season pass.” for
many years. Probably all of their friends know they’re Shedd-Heads!