Betty Erickson

Betty Ann (Hummel) Erickson, age 86, of Willmar, died Monday morning, July 21, at Bethesda Heritage Center Nursing Home in Willmar.
Memorial services will be 1:30 p.m. Saturday, July 26, at First Baptist Church in Willmar. A private interment will be held at Cloverleaf Memorial Park Cemetery in Willmar. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church. Memorials are preferred to First Baptist Church Women's Ministry. Arrangements are with Peterson Brothers Funeral Home in Willmar (www.petersonbrothers.com).
Betty was born October 1, 1927, in Merrill, Wisconsin, the only child of John and Marion (Coyer) Richardson. She attended elementary school in Weston Township and Schofield, Wisconsin and high school at Wausau High School, graduating in 1945. During high school, she met her future husband Bert Hummel through the 4H organization. While Bert was serving in World War II, Betty attended Central State Teacher's College (now University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point). Following Bert's discharge, Betty and Bert were married on August 14, 1948 at the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Wausau, Wisconsin.
Following their wedding, they moved to Grand Forks, North Dakota, where Bert worked as a horticulturist for Woen's Greenhouse. They later moved to Duluth and in 1954 to Willmar, where Bert worked for Willmar Greenhouse. In 1960, Betty returned to school and complete her education degree at St. Cloud State University. She began teaching at the 14E Country School near Pennock and later at the Svea Country School before substitute teaching at Willmar Public Schools. Following Bert's death, in 1972, she began teaching full-time in Willmar and taught here until her retirement in 1983.
In the summer of 1974, Betty met Allen Erickson (who had also lost his spouse) through mutual friends and they were married on November 28, 1974. Al and Betty lived in Willmar and began wintering in Mesa, Arizona in 1983. In 1990, they became permanent residents of the Sunland Village East Retirement Community in Mesa for several years before moving back to Willmar.
Betty was a member of First Baptist Church in Willmar. She was an active volunteer in both Willmar and Mesa, and especially enjoyed volunteering as a receptionist at Bethesda Homes in Willmar. She enjoyed ceramics and traveling.
She is survived by her six children, Linda (and Michael) Dahlen of Blaine, Laurie (and Bruce) Paulson of Frederic,WI, and Sue Pederson of Glendale, AZ, Michael (and Linda) Erickson of Willmar, Joanne (and Clark) Brandt of Vadnais Heights, and Kevin (and Kathryn) Erickson of Willmar; two sons-in-law, Eldon Moon and Stuart Ness; 14 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; 2 great-great-grandchildren; and other relatives and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husbands, Bert Hummel in 1971 and Allen Erickson in 2012; and two daughters, Lois Ness and Jacqueline Moon.

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