Marvin Erickson

Funeral Services for Marvin F. Erickson, 81, of Ekalaka, MT will be at 2:00 p. m. on Friday, May 7, 2010, in the Chapel of Stevenson Funeral Home in Ekalaka, MT with Pastor Wallace Fox and Tom Stieg officiating. Interment will follow in the Beaver Lodge Cemetery at Ekalaka. Visitation will be 4:00 p. m. to 9:00 p. m. on Thursday, May 6th, with a Prayer Service at 7:00 p. m. at Stevenson Funeral Home with visitation continuing at 9:00 a. m. on Friday until the time of service. Marvin Floyd Erickson was born in Bowman County, ND to immigrant homesteaders Frankie (Mann) and Eric Erickson on May 22, 1928. Marvin grew up on the family farm and attended a rural Bowman County School. Following school, he started farming with his parents. A strong and independent man, he would hop an eastbound train as a ?hobo? traveling to Chicago where he bought cars and drove them to the west to be sold locally. On May 14, 1950, he married Laura Jean Stieg of Ekalaka in Miles City, MT. To this union, six children were born. Marvin and Laura Jean would eventually divorce. In July 1953, the family moved from ND to the Ekalaka area where Marvin worked on various ranches. He excited many area children when he drove through town with his horse, saddle and scabbard loaded in the back of his old pickup. In 1968, the family moved into town where Marvin eventually went to work as a boiler man and maintenance person for the county court house and Dahl Memorial Hospital. Marvin was a member of the first group from Ekalaka to become Emergency Medical Technician certified, a license he held for over 35 years. Upon his retirement as an EMT and Volunteer Fireman, Marvin was personally recognized with a personal letter from former Senator Conrad Burns for his dedication as an EMT and Fireman. Many a night was spent away from home as he drove the ambulance over roads of Eastern Montana getting patients where they needed to be. He joined the Ekalaka Volunteer Fire Department and was an active member for 35 years. As bus driver for the local schools, he traveled the state and the county with Carter County children always in his wake. In 1983, he took his high school equivalency to keep up with the changing rules of the world. His pocket notebook held his schedule, phone numbers, and the part number for many pieces of equipment owned by the county and hospital. Marvin served as a Special Deputy Sheriff for Sheriff Vernon Pruess during his term of office. When the Carter Charter came to be, Marvin was on hand to drive the seniors of the county where they needed to go. Marvin had great pride in the Ekalaka community and his involvement in the many organizations showed it. On October 14 of 1976 Marvin married Bettie Ilene Moore at Belle Fourche, SD. After retirement, Marvin and Bettie made many vacation trips to Texas to see friends and family. He could be found cooking Pancakes for the family reunion or the firemen and Angel Food cakes for any occasion. In 1977, Marvin joined the Carter County Geological Society where he was very active, and was a member of the Beaver Lodge Cemetery Board. Marvin had always been a caregiver with compassion and common sense ensuring the most basic of human needs was met with dignity. After an extended hospital stay, Marvin passed away on May 3, 2010, as a result of complications following heart surgery. Marvin is survived by his wife Bettie; sons Robert (Connie), Arnold (Dixie); daughters Rhonda (Paul) Leinen, Diane Hockenbary, and Laurel Turbiville; 21 grandchildren and 29 great-grandchildren; brothers, Clarence and Melvin and sisters Nancy Kesling, Cora Hiller, Edith Crevier. He is preceded in death by his parents, daughter Christina, sisters Laura and Florence, brother Vern, special brother-in-laws Darrel and Ivan, special nephews Larry and Ricky Atwood, and infant grandson, Arnold Erickson.


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Burial Date: May 7, 2010
Funeral Home Ekalaka, MT

Funeral Service: Friday, Stevenson Funeral Home, Ekalaka, MT