Archie E. Erickson

STEVENSVILLE —Archie Ervin Erickson, age 92 of Stevensville, passed away peacefully on Friday, May 31, 2002 at the Lakeland Continuing Care Center in St. Joseph, Michigan. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 7:00 P.M. on Wednesday evening, June 5th at Peace Lutheran Church, 3590 Lincoln Avenue in St. Joseph, Michigan with Rev. Paul A. Koehneke officiating. The Visitation will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Church. Memorial may be designated to ?Peace Lutheran Church.? The final resting place of Mr. Erickson will be the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Madelia, Minnesota with a graveside service at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, June 7th. Starks & Menchinger Family Funeral Home is serving the family. Those wishing to share a memory on line may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com. Archie was born on April 12, 1910 in Kasota, Minnesota to Laura (Nerbovig) and Delbert Erickson, both deceased. He is the oldest of seven brothers and sisters. He was preceded in death by his brothers Arvid, Alton and Arnold, and by one sister, Evelyn Hailstone. His brother Guy (and his wife Nettie) and his sister Gladys Pontgratz are currently living in Mankato, Minnesota. Archie had several jobs during his lifetime that spanned the Depression and World War II. Because of physical handicaps, the military would not accept Archie for active service during WW II. so instead, he found other ways to serve his country with honor. He served as a construction worker that built the great Alaskan Highway and also worked in the very dangerous job as a bomb and mine plant supervisor during WW II., making all types of ammunitions for our fighting men in the Navy. After the war, he worked for a brewery as a salesman and then started and ran his own business until he retired. Archie and his wife Genevieve have lived the past 22 years in retirement in Stevensville. Archie is survived by his wife Genevieve. They were married on July 10, 1932 in Mankato Minnesota. Their life long partnership is celebrated by having been married almost 70 years. Also surviving are two sons, Jerry (and his wife Jan,) of Stevensville and Gene (and his wife Donna) of Prescott, Arizona. Archie has six grandchildren, Julie Schepanski of the Quad Cities; Kim Van Boening of Prescott, Arizona; Lisa Reilly of Holland, Michigan; Greg Erickson of Las Vegas, Nevada; Jayne Toering of Oak Hills, Virginia and Jeff Erickson of Phoenix, Arizona. Archie also has nine great grandchildren, Jerome Richard Harms; Katie and Keaton Van Boening; Kaitlin, Ellen, Curran and Nathaniel Reilly; and Hanna and Jordan Toering.