Allen W. Erickson, Sr., 86
Daily Inter-Lake | UPDATED 2 hours, 38 minutes AGO
It is with great sadness that the family of Allen W. Erickson Sr. is announcing his passing as of May 23, at the age of 86. He was at home surrounded by his family.
He was born on August 28, 1939, in Tacoma, Wash. to Eskil Erickson and Gladys Snover and was their eldest child and then followed by a sister, Corrinne. After a divorce and Gladys’s remarrying Earl Klein, they relocated to Lewistown, MT and then Spokane, Wash. During that time, they added to their family with Carol, Pam, Patty, Peggy and Randle Klein. He had several half and stepsiblings.
He attended Rogers High School in Spokane, prior to enlisting in the U.S. Navy in 1957 at the age of 17 and served our country until 1963. He was stationed on a floating dry dock, USS Cayuga County (LST-529). He also served on the USS Nereus (AS-17) which was stationed in Guam. While on leave, he met his first wife Kathy in 1959. They had three children, Allen W. Erickson Jr., Robert E. Erickson and Brian S. Erickson. They divorced in 1974. Shortly after their divorce, he remarried and gained two stepchildren, Robin and Michael Yates. He had a lot of stories to tell of his time in the Navy, and he was always proud of his service, the ships and the crew that he was part of.
Allen met the love of his life, Linda, in 1976 at the Pine Shed in Spokane. Afterwards, he relocated to Kalispell, to run the Chevron Gas Station on Idaho Street. He asked Linda and her two daughters, Ginger and Cinnamon, to become a family. They married at their home in 1977. In 1978 they welcomed a son, Joseph E. Erickson.
Some of his fondest memories were growing up on the farm in Lewistown. He loved working and playing on the golf course that was started and operated by his maternal grandfather. He loved to go camping, hunting, and fishing. One of his biggest passions was racing stockcars which began in the late 1960’s while living in Washington state and continued as he raced at the quarter mile track on La Salle Road in Kalispell before it was shut down.
After he was disabled from working full time, he expanded his personal passion of helping veterans. First, he began volunteering at standdowns in other states before he and Linda along with Lynn & Bonny Ogle founded North West Montana Veterans Stand Down. Together they organized and ran the first standdown in Libby, Mont. in 1999. Wanting to do more for his brothers and sisters in arms, he opened the North West Montana Veteran’s Food Pantry in 2002 on highway 35 East. In 2010, they were able to move to the current location on highway 2 East. Furthering, the mission and vision of Allen, Camp Ponderosa in Swan Lake was acquired in 2018 to provide a place for veterans. He spoke of and lived by; “giving a hand up, not a handout” and giving veterans a safe place to find resources and support.
He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Linda with sons, Allen W. “Bill” Erickson Jr., Robert “Bob” Erickson, Joseph “Joe” Erickson along with Ginger Davis and Cinnamon Davis-Hall; in addition to twelve grandchildren and four great-grandchildren and many beloved nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Preceded in death by his son, Brian Erickson, stepson, Michael Yates and son-in-law, Dale Hall.
A ‘Celebration of Life’ will be held on Friday, August 21, at Snowline Acres at 3315 U.S. highway 93 South from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
In lieu of flowers the family asks that you honor his memory by donating your time & any donations to a veteran and/or to further his mission by donating to the non-profits that he founded.
