Alfred Erikson Obituary

Alfred August Erickson, MD
passed away March 1 at the
age of 89 of respiratory
failure, atrial fibrillation and
encephalopathy. He was
born at home on October
17, 1935 to Arvid E.
Erickson, Sr. and Hilda
(Larson) Erickson in
Denver, Colorado. He is
survived by his loving wife
Beverly, their daughter
Jenny and her husband
Jeff, grandchildren Michaela and Joshua, daughter-in- law Silvia Erickson, DDS and grandson Nathan Erickson. Their son Andrew August Erickson preceded him in death as well as his parents, and siblings Lillian, Fern and Arvid, Jr.
Always a hard worker, Al started working as a messenger for the Union Pacific Railroad while in high school. He advanced to yard checker while attending Denver University for one year before enlisting in the US Navy where he became a hospital corpsman serving at the Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland and later at the Millington, Tennessee Naval Station.
After discharge from the Navy he returned to his hometown to begin pre-med studies at the downtown Denver University of Colorado campus. Attending a college age Sunday school class at Trinity Methodist Church in downtown Denver, he met his future wife, Beverly. They were married in June 1963 after she graduated from University of Colorado School of Nursing. After completing undergraduate work in Colorado, internship and residency in Memphis, Tennessee they moved to Nevada City in November 1970, where as an internist he specialized in heart and lung disease. Ever attuned to patients who had difficulty coming to his office, for several years on Fridays, he would make house calls along with his office nurse. He was on staff at Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital from Dec 3, 1970 - Dec 5, 1997. He then worked in Marysville and Modesto at a Methadone clinic that treated drug addiction.
Al always said his greatest pride was being a physician and building a family. He and his devoted wife, Bev, were married for over 61 years. Together they provided a stable and generous home life for themselves and their children, Jenny and Andy, and built a successful private medical practice, in internal medicine that served the community well. He supported his children generously in their education. Al loved being a Grandpa to his 3 grandchildren, being present through their growing up years, celebrating their milestones. He spent many hours with his oldest grandson, Nathan, teaching him the alphabet, numbers and puzzles when he was a toddler and later attending his piano recitals. He enjoyed attending granddaughter Michaela's growing up and her many music and dance performances. He supported his youngest grandson Josh's love of the outdoors, through backyard bon-fires, underground cooking, as well as teaching him about and mentoring him in the stock market, when he got older. Good family memories were made on vacations to Hawaii, Mexico, and Yosemite. Over the years, Al and Bev traveled to several European countries for medical conferences. His last big trip was with Bev's sister, Shyrl and brother-in-law Gary to the Baltic states and St. Petersburg, Russia.
Al was an intelligent, generous and caring man who will be missed. A private family burial with military honors will be held on March 14th at Deer Creek Cemetery.
Please join the family for a memorial service on Sunday, March 23 at 1:30PM at Calvary Bible Church, 11481 State Highway 174, Grass Valley, CA
Memorials in Al's name may be given to Music in the Mountains or a charity of your choice.