(Lloyd) Steve Erickson

(Lloyd) Steve Erickson

(Lloyd) Stephen Erickson, an aerospace engineer, father of five, and life-long outdoorsman, died in Colorado Springs, Colo., on May 16, at the age of 76, after a long fight with Parkinson's disease.

Steve was born on December 16, 1935 to Steve Clarence Erickson, and Margaret Kruger-Erickson. He graduated from Adams High School, and went on to earn a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of North Dakota. Amid the aerospace industry boom of the early 1960s, Steve moved to Tulsa, OK, and later Los Angeles to work for the Mcdonnell Douglas Corporation.

Though he lived away from North Dakota for much of his life, Steve never stayed far for long, spending summers in the family homestead, in Adams. In 1977 he returned to Adams with his family and owned and operated the Erickson Ford dealership, of Park River.

In 1983, Steve returned to the aerospace industry, and worked for Spacecom of Cape Canaveral, Florida. Later, he went back to Mcdonnell Douglas, in Huntington Beach, California, and then to Astrotech Corporation, of Titusville, Florida, which he retired from, in 1998.

Steve had a profound love for the land and for farming, and was happiest on his John Deere tractors. At one time, Steve drove his vintage John Deere tractors from Colorado Springs to Whitman, North Dakota, and another time he drove the Alaska highway with the same tractors

An accomplished athlete and outdoorsman, Steve ran and cycled into his late 60s, and also enjoyed river rafting with his friends and his children.

He was the husband of the late Rose Ann (Meyer) Erickson. He leaves four sons, Stephen of Costa Mesa, California; Shelby of Colorado Springs, Sean of Somerville, Mass., and Hans of Belmont, Mass., and a daughter, Gretchen Erickson, of Palm Desert, California. Steve had a sister, the late Carol Bridges.

As per Steve's wishes, there will not be a formal service but a small celebration of his immediate family. His ashes will be buried alongside those of Rose Ann's at the Sarepta Cemetary, of Adams. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that friends and relatives contribute to the National Parkinson's Foundation, at http://www3.parkinson.org/goto/lloydserickson.

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