Gunnar William Erickson

Gunnar William Erickson was born on December 21, 1918, in Butte, Montana. His parents, Selma and Andrew Erickson, were both born in Finland. Andrew arrived in the United States from Finland in 1916, and Selma arrived in 1917. They married in June 1918. The family moved to Spokane, Washington, sometime during Erickson’s early childhood. Erickson graduated from Libby Junior High in 1934, with 113 other students, making it one of the largest classes in school history. He went on to attend Lewis and Clark High School, where he was active in many activities, such as Art Club, Adelante, and Quill and Scroll. He also served as a desk editor and associate editor of the student journal.

Erickson attended Washington State College from 1938 to 1941 and majored in Electrical Engineering. Along with his general education and engineering courses, he took several military courses. While at WSC, he was a member of the Montezuma Club, a social club in Stimson Hall. He also joined the Associated Engineers’ Club early in his time on campus. He remained active in various engineering associations throughout his academic career. In 1941, he was elected secretary of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. In 1942, he was one of fourteen undergraduates to pledge to Sigma Tau, an engineering honors society. According to the Evergreen, the WSC student newspaper, students were selected based on “scholarship, practicality, and sociability." He graduated with the class of 1942.

Erickson enlisted in the United States Navy after graduation. He trained at Cornell University in New York, where he received his ensign’s commission in June of 1942, shortly after graduating from WSC. There, he completed a course in Diesel Engineering. He was then transferred to Miami, Florida, where he completed a Sub-Chaser course. He was promoted again in June of 1943. He received orders to go to California, where he was assigned as Assistant Chief Engineer aboard the U.S.S Austin. He served in the Pacific for about a year. In 1944, he was taken to the naval hospital in Seattle, Washington, for pneumonia, where he died on February 18. He was given military funeral rites in Seattle before his remains were transported to his family in Spokane.

Gunnar William Erickson is buried in the Syringa plot at Riverside Memorial Park in Spokane, Washington. He left behind his fiancée, Mildred Diefe. The couple planned to get married during Erickson’s next leave. His family held their own funeral in Spokane, at the Hazen & Jaeger Funeral Home.