Edward Erazmus Obituary

Edward T. Erazmus

Mass of Christian Burial for KU Professor Emeritus, Edward T. Erazmus, 93, Lawrence will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, February 28, 2014 at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. Military Honors will follow at Mt. Calvary Cemetery. He died Friday, February 21, 2014 at Brandon Woods at Alvamar.

Edward was born April 22, 1920 in Grand Rapids, MI, the son of Andrew and Josephine (Lewenski) Erazmus.

He graduated in 1938 from Central Catholic High School in Grand Rapids, MI. In 1942, obtained a BA from Aquinas College, and his MA (1948) and PhD (1961) degrees from the University of Michigan. He served in the Air Force during WWII from 1942-1946 as a radio operator. He was medically discharged in 1946 and returned to college to complete his graduate degrees on the GI bill.

He married Dorothy H. Rozek on May 2, 1953 in Grand Rapids, MI. She preceded him in death April 21, 2007.

In the early 1960s at age 40, Edward and Dorothy adopted 5 children (3 girls and 2 boys) during a time when interracial adoption was not common. He and his wife took in foster children and helped Vietnamese refugees who needed help upon their arrival to Lawrence, KS.

Dr. Erazmus came to the University of Kansas in 1963 and established the Intensive English Center in 1964 (Director of IEC from 1964 - 1975; IEC became AEC in 1976), while dedicating much of his research to developing ways to explain concepts of anchorage and articulatory settings to learners of English. Professor Erazmus spent his last 10 years at KU teaching graduate-level seminars in the Linguistics Department and the School of Education. He retired from KU in 1985 as an associate professor. To read a 2002 interview with Dr. Erazmus, go to: http://www.eslminiconf.net/april/erazmus.html

He was a member of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus, and served as a Republican Committee member in the late 1990s for the Kanwaka Township in Douglas Co.

Dr. Erazmus was passionate about his Linguistic research, his faith, his family, gardening, and helping those in need.

Survivors include 3 daughters, Maria Gibson, Le-Thu (Steve Campbell) Erazmus, May-Lum (Daniel) Davidson, all of Lawrence; one son, Joseph Erazmus, Lawrence; one sister, Clara Platz, Sterling Heights, MI; one brother, Raymond (Lee) Erazmus, Ocala, FL; 2 brother-in-laws, Walt Wendell, Belmont, MI, Robert Giffels, Flint, MI; 14 grandchildren, Ranee, Marta, Michael, Scott, Jamie, Kayla, Matthew, Kimberly, Kirsten, Alyx, Isaac, Brandon, Corin, and Sam; and 9 great grandchildren, Autumn, Anthony, Jacob, Cricket, Adaleigh, Asher, Nathan, Zaybrianna, Ivianna; 3 great-great grandchildren, Bella, Alex, Ava, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was also preceded in death by his parents, a son (Martin Erazmus), a brother and 5 sisters.

A Rosary will be 6:30 p.m. Thursday, February 27th with a visitation to follow until 8:00 p.m. at Warren-McElwain Mortuary in Lawrence.

The family suggests memorials in his name to the Edward Erazmus Linguistics Scholarship Fund in care of KU Endowment, Knights of Columbus, or the Brandon Woods Employee Recognition Program and may be sent in care of the mortuary.

Online condolences may be sent to www.warrenmcelwain.com

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