Jennie L. Erickson

IRON RIVER - Jennie Leona Erickson, 91, of Iron River, Michigan, died at the Northstar Hospital in Iron River on September 9, 2012. Jennie was born March 13, 1921, in Iron River, daughter of Nils August Solander and Clara O. Larson Solander. She was confirmed by Rev. Robert L. Sturdy at the Swedish Mission (now Grace Covenant) Church in Stambaugh. She graduated from Stambaugh High School in June of 1939. From 1939 to the fall of 1942, she took postgraduate courses (shorthand and bookkeeping) at Stambaugh High School, and she worked for Dr. Wickstrom doing housework. She also worked for Mr. Johnson at the Iron River Floral Shop doing floral arrangements. Jennie enrolled in the nursing program at the Swedish Covenant Hospital School of Nursing in Chicago, Illlinois, in September of 1942, and she received her R.N. diploma in May of 1945. She married Carl Eldred Erickson at the Swedish Mission (now Grace Covenant) Church in Stambaugh on March 9, 1946. She worked as a nurse for Dr. C.A. Cooper from 1958 to 1959, and then she worked for eight years at Stambaugh General Hospital , first as a staff nurse and later as an emergency and operating room nurse. The Erickson family moved to Chicago in the summer of 1966. Jennie was employed by North Park College in the Health Services Department from 1966 to 1974 while her children attended and graduated from North Park College. She also worked part-time (weekends) as a staff nurse at Swedish Covenant Hospital. Eldred and Jennie moved back to Michigan in July of 1974 and lived in their home at 280 W. Hagerman Lake Road until 2001. During that time Jennie worked at the Iron County General Hospital as a surgical nurse and manager of the operating and recovery rooms. She retired from her nursing career in March of 1986. Jennie and Eldred moved to the Covenant Village Retirement Community in Golden valley, Minnesota, in March of 2001. Eldred died in October of 2001 and Jennie lived at Covenant Village until May of 2011 when she moved to the Iron River Care Center. Jennie was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Eldred, her brothers Hilmer Solander, Theodore Solander, Martin Solander, and Clarence Solander, and her sister Viola Solander Swanson. She is survived by three daughters, Suzanne (Steve) Sands of Hagerman Lake; Bonnie (Sandy) Mohlman of Montpelier, Vermont, and Fort Myers, Florida; Peggy (Joe) Guzzardo of Hagerman Lake; and a son, James ""Fritz"" (Peggy) Erickson of Edina, Minnesota; two sisters Doris Solander Nelson of Golden Valley, Minnesota, and Signe Solander Lindahl of Golden Valley, Minnesota; nine grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. Visitation will be held Friday, September 14th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Jacobs Funeral Home in Iron River. Funeral Services will be held Saturday, September 15th at 11:30 a.m. at Grace Covenant Church in Iron River. Rev. James A. Swanson II will officiate. Pallbearers: Heidi Mohlman Tringe, Matthew Sands, Laura Erickson, Stacey Guzzardo Moo, Kristofer Mohlman, Luke Sands, Anne Guzzardo Colman, Rachel Erickson, and Joe Guzzardo. Honorary Pallbearers: Dale Carlson, Bob Erickson, Warren Groth, and Carl Nelson. Interment will be in the Stambaugh Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Grace Covenant Church Building Fund. The Jacobs Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Jennie L. Erickson, please visit our flower store.