Larry Erickson, died Thursday, August 5, 2021 at his home in Red Cloud, Nebraska. He was born on the 17th of May 1949 at 10:10 am. I don’t remember much about the first five years. In kindergarten I was the teacher’s pet but 1st grade was not good. I had Mrs. Hand and she was not nice. In the 6th grade the top floor of the grade school in Red Cloud was condemned so we sent to school in the courthouse. By the time I made it to high school I was starting to have tons of fun, although I was keeping my grades up. On Fridays we would take orders for Kansas 3.2 beer. If you were tall enough to put the money on the bar, you could buy the beer in Lebanon, Kansas.
We worked in the summer at Holt Potato harvesting potatoes. Very hard work but many young people worked there. After high school graduation I attended Kearney State College. I graduated in December 1971 with a 3.0 GPA. I gave both my high school and college diplomas to my mother and have never seen them since that time. I graduated with a double major in math and physics.
In 1969, I bought a new Plymouth Road Runner and had lots of fun with that car - enough said about that! In 1972, I was the first one that was to go into service from Webster County had there been a draft but there was no draft at that time.
I worked for a farmer my first year out of college and then got a job with the local natural gas company, I worked on the maintenance crew for nine years and the worked my way up to foreman. At this time, Kansas-Nebraska Gas Company bought us out and I was moved around until I went to Franklin. I spent the last thirteen years working with Dick Chrisman and I became very good friends with him. We worked well together and had lots of fun. In May of 1999, I retired from the Gas Company with 36 years of service. I then bought a new pickup and travel trailer and two weeks after retirement I was on my way to Alaska. I drove 12,000 miles and was gone almost three months. Canada was very beautiful but Alaska is by farm the most scenic. The following year I decided to go to the east coast to see the states out there. I stopped at as many NASCAR tracks as I could and that was fun. There are many beautiful places with New Hampshire being my favorite, but there was just too many people for me. I saw 49 of the 50 states.
I spent a lot of time in the summer in the 1990’s going to stock car races on weekends with Chris Knehans (my god son ). In the fall Chris and his dad, Lonnie, and I would go to gun shows all over, including to the world’s largest in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
All of the way through my work years I was a confirmed bachelor and had no desire to get married. In December of 2010, Cynthia Duval, which is Jody Hersh’s sister, started working at the Webster County Museum so she could be closer to her parents. Jody and Gunner have always been good friends, so they asked if I would help move a piano at the museum. So we moved the piano and I thought this is a nice lady. I talked with her some and said something about putting up Christmas lights the next day. Cindy called and said she would like to do that. We started dating and six months later on my 62nd birthday, May 17, 2011, we were married. It has been the best thing that I ever did. She is the love of my life and this has been the happiest ten years of my life.
Memorial services were Monday, 10:30 am, August 23, 2021 at the Williams Funeral Home in Red Cloud with Chaplain Jay Towell officiating. Interment at the New Virginia Cemetery.
Williams Funeral Home
241 West 4th Avenue
Red Cloud, Nebraska 68970
Phone 402-746-2500
williamsfuneralhomes@yahoo.com
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