Orla Lorraine Erickson

Erickson, Orla L. FITCHBURG-Orla L. Erickson, age 101, a resident of Sylvan Crossings Assisted Living Home, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, March 31, 2015. She was born to Christine (Hilleren) and Paul Vetter on Jan. 7, 1914, in rural Minnesota. Orla graduated from Willmar, Minn., high school and went on to attend a business college in Minneapolis, Minn. She worked at various companies before she met and married Nathan D. Erickson. Nathan and Orla spent their early married years in Eau Claire. Then, with the outbreak of WWII, they moved to Madison while Nathan worked at the Badger Defense Plant. At the end of the war, the family moved again to their farm in Iowa County. Finally, Nathan and Orla moved back to Madison where they stayed except for some brief years in Rhinelander. Orla often joked that she has moved at least 17 times in her life. Madison was, without question, Orla’s favorite place to live. She worked at the University of Wisconsin as an Administrative Assistant for the Dean of General Engineering for over 25 years. She enjoyed that job and loved to play bridge during her lunch break. She was an excellent card player. Orla became an Avon representative at about the same time as she began working for the University. She won many awards for her outstanding salesmanship. She sold Avon for over 50 years and was an active representative into her nineties. She was famous for ending her conversations with the question, “Now, what do you want from Avon?” Orla was a wonderful baker and cook. She was a “church basement woman” at Otter Creek Lutheran Church, and a loyal member of the Lutheran Church wherever the family made their home. Orla was very devoted to her church; as a granddaughter and great-granddaughter of German Lutheran Missionaries, she had many stories to tell of their adventures. Orla is survived by her four daughters, Sandra (Dale) Viney, Mary (Cy) Post, Susan (Mike) Dominguez, and Lizbeth Getman; eight grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; brother-in-law, Ben Bamonte; and numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives and family friends. In addition to her parents and husband, Orla was preceded in death by her brothers, Herbert (Muriel) and Lloyd (Edna); sisters, Petra, Gladys, Vera Bamonte, and Alphid; special sister-in-law, Lola Forshaug; and special sons-in-law, John Getman and Cy Savarese. A Memorial Service will be held at BETHEL LUTHERAN CHURCH, 312 Wisconsin Avenue, Madison, at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, April 21, 2015, with a luncheon following the service. Private family interment will be held at Otter Creek. Visitation will be held at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of the service on Tuesday. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that contributions be made to Bethel Lutheran Church in Madison, Otter Creek Lutheran Church in Highland or Agrace HospiceCare. The family is most appreciative of the staff at Sylvan Crossings and Agrace HospiceCare for providing Orla with kind and considerate care. Blessed be Orla’s memory. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com. Gunderson Fitchburg Funeral & Cremation Care 2950 Chapel Valley Rd. (608) 442-5002