Ryan Leif Erickson

The funeral service will be live-streamed at:

https://tinyurl.com/ryanericksonfuneral

Ryan L. Erickson, age 63, of rural Blomkest, passed away unexpectedly, Thursday evening, May 12, from injuries received in a weather accident while serving on duty with the Blomkest Fire Department.

A celebration of life service will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, May 20, at the Refuge Church in Willmar.  Interment will be at Evergreen Cemetery near Blomkest.  Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, May 19, at Peterson Brothers Funeral Home and will continue for one hour prior to the service at the church on Friday.  Arrangements are entrusted to the Peterson Brothers Funeral Home.  www.petersonbrothers.com

Ryan Leif Erickson was born March 3, 1959, in Willmar, Minnesota, to Evie and Bob Erickson.  He graduated from Willmar High School in 1977 and attended Willmar the Vo-Tech.  He was a true Blomkest lifer, deciding to work at Erickson’s Plumbing and Heating, the family business with the people he loved.  Ryan treated each customer like family and was proud to be peoples “go to guy.” 

After living the bachelor life for 39 years, he met the love of his life in a chance encounter on a trip to Mexico.  In 2000, he married Kelly and became a proud parent to two girls whom he loved and treated as his own. Later becoming the “Fun Grandpa”, always ready for the next adventure.

Ryan served on the Blomkest Fire Department for over 40 years.  He always looked forward to their community fundraising events, like turkey bingo and the annual fish fry. He loved volunteer work with his favorite being the two mission trips to Bolivia using his plumbing expertise to enrich their communities.

Ryan was everybody’s friend with the gift to gab.  Good luck leaving quickly once he got to chatting.  He loved working on DIY projects and could rig up anything.  He was especially proud of his float creations for Blomkest Appreciation Day.  Many of which won 1^st place.

Ryan proudly served on the East Lake Lillian Township Board, Kandiyohi Power Cooperative Board and many other boards throughout the years.  Ryan was always 100% invested in whatever he was doing.  He truly enjoyed his most recent endeavor working in sales at Perkins Lumber.

Spending time with family and friends was Ryan’s favorite pastime.  He loved playing golf with his golf cronies any time it was nice enough to get out.  He was always ready for a good game of buck and loved bluffing his way to a win.

His impact is far reaching and will be missed by many.  He will be remembered as a great husband, father, grandpa, brother, son and friend.

He is survived by his loving wife, Kelly; two daughters, Tasha (and Dustin) Hage of Fargo, ND., and Jennifer (and Trenton) Adkins of Spicer and four grandchildren, Jackson and Westin Hage and Quinn and Leighton Adkins.  Also surviving is his mother, Evelyn Erickson-Paulson of Willmar and three siblings, Ross (and Margaret) Erickson of Willmar, Matt (and Rai-Anne) Erickson of Blomkest and Dana (and Tom) Roderick of Rockford, IL., besides other relatives and many friends.

He was preceded in death by his father and a grand-nephew, Eli Mattfield.