Marian Irene Erickson

Marian Irene Erickson, age 96 of Bay Lake passed away peacefully on Monday, April 20, 2020, at Aicota Health Care Center, Aitkin, MN.  Due to the current restrictions on gatherings, the family will have a private visitation at Koop Funeral Home in Crosby and burial at Sunset Memorial Gardens in Minneapolis.

Born May 25, 1923, on a farm near Kimball, MN, to James and Mina (Nordby) Lennox, Marian was the fifth of six children.  She attended a two-room schoolhouse near their farm, then High School in Kimball and Litchfield. She was the only one of the children to go beyond the 8th grade. Later she was able to attend Minneapolis Business College because her brother Ralph shared his CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) earnings with her.  While working at the University of Minnesota radio station she met Bob Erickson, an engineering student working out at the transmitter who came in to meet the “new girl”. He shook her hand (a memory she retained for life because it so impressed her). When he returned from WW2, he became the love of her life.  During the war, Marian worked in the Advertising Department of Cargill Inc.

Bob and Marian were married on August 9, 1947, in Minneapolis and soon had two sons. Bob worked for companies involved in the development of early computers (ERA, Univac & Control Data) and many of his colleagues became their lifelong friends.  Bob and Marian made their home in the Highland Park area of St. Paul. Marian had wonderful memories of raising her two boys in a neighborhood she loved near her best friends Carol Thompson and Ann Shekels.  

In 1963, they purchased a cabin on Bay Lake that became their real “home” for the following 57 years.  In this place she so loved, she watched her sons, daughter-in-law (the daughter she never had), grand-daughters (and husbands) and great grandchildren find joy in the lake and develop as individuals.  In the early years, Bob & Marian took pleasure in spending time with friends on the lake (some of which they’d recruited from St. Paul & Phoenix).  They could be seen taking lengthy cocktail cruises, often tying multiple pontoon boats together.  With her rural roots it’s easy to understand why Bay Lake was her favorite place. In 1970, the couple combined forces with other Bay Lakers to bring about the creation of the Bay Lake Improvement Association.  Prior to Bob’s passing in 1999, they enjoyed winters in Fountain Hills and Rio Verde, AZ.  

Well known for her welcoming smile and outgoing nature, Marian genuinely cared about everyone she met and never forgot a name.  All loved her in return.  She was the anchor of the family and enjoyed nothing more than everyone being together. 

We are immeasurably grateful to the caregivers at Home Instead, Aicota and Heartwood as well as for the insightful medical care and consistent support of Dr. Kara Maucieri at CRMC.

Marian is survived by her two sons, Paul (Susan) Erickson of Bay Lake and Ward Erickson of Shorewood, two granddaughters, Katherine (Ben) Bowman of St. Paul and Kristine (Brock) Noland of Minneapolis and four great grandchildren, Grant, Evelyn and Hugh Bowman and Max Noland. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Bob, and her siblings; John, Pearl, Ruby, Ralph and Floyd (Doc).

Memorials are preferred to Salem Lutheran Church, Deerwood, MN 56444 and the Bay Lake Improvement Association Environmental Fund, P.O. Box 461, Deerwood, MN 56444.