Kenneth "Ken" J Erickson
Kenneth “Ken” John Erickson, 86, of 602 Woodridge Court, Menomonie, WI, died unexpectedly at his home on Thursday, December 20, 2012.
He was born May 11, 1926 in Madison, WI to Albert and Jeanette Erickson. Ken joined the U.S. Navy in 1944 and served as a Machinist Mate 3/C on the U.S.S Dickman and U.S.S. Catskill in the South Pacific during WWII.
Ken earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from UW Platteville and a Master's Degree from the University of Minnesota. His high school teaching career began in Ripon, WI and continued in Sheboygan, WI in the field of Industrial Technology Education. Ken's third teaching position began in 1961 at Stout State College teaching drafting. In 1972 he became the Assistant Placement Director and continued to work in that position until he retired in 1990.
He was united in marriage to Margaret Norma Green on August 28, 1948, and they had three daughters together. Margaret died in 1982. Ken married Mary Alice Hokeness on December 26, 1986. He welcomed a stepson and stepdaughter into his family.
Ken had many talents, interests and hobbies including coaching football and hockey, golfing, building radio controlled airplanes, woodworking, and he was an avid history buff. He may be best remembered for being instrumental in developing both youth and college hockey in Menomonie. Ken is known to some as "Father Hockey" in Menomonie. For many years, he served as advisor or coach to the Stout program. He was a former member of the Board of Directors of the Dunn County Youth Hockey Association and coached Bantam level. He was the "voice" of the Dunn County Cougars.
He will be deeply missed by his wife, Mary, daughters, Linda (Steve) Nechvatal of Kansas City, MO; Alice (Don) Monett of Ellsworth, WI; Jill (Mark) O'Donoghue of Carbondale, IL; stepchildren, Jon (Julie ) Hokeness of Hudson, WI and Beth Segner of Carbondale, IL; 16 beautiful grandchildren; five great grandchildren; one sister Karen (Tony) Ballweg of Windsor, WI. He was preceded in death by his parents, his first wife, Margaret, brother (Clark), and sister (Jean).