Obituary of Gary Erickson

Dr. Gary Erickson, 69, of Sarasota. FL, formerly of Cambridge passed away at Tidewell Hospice Thursday November 15, 2012. He was born on March 5, 1943 in Pekin, Illinois to Loren and Vivian (Fisher) Erickson. Gary grew up in Cambridge, MN. Gary met his future wife, Linda Samuelson, while in high school. He enjoyed blasting his trumpet into Linda's ears as she sat directly in front of him with her French horn in band. Gary attended Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter, MN & Linda went to U of M, Duluth. Even though they were miles apart they kept in constant touch with each other & married in 1964 at the Cambridge Lutheran Church. Gary graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science Degree from Gustavus Adolphus in 1965. He taught chemistry to engineering students at a Jr. College for one semester for a professor who was out on medical leave. He was so pleased when the formulas he put on the blackboards turned out, & learned so much while teaching. For one year Gary worked at the State Crime Bureau in St. Paul as a chemical analyst while attending The William Mitchell School of Law in St. Paul. He then went to dental school at the U of M, Minneapolis campus where he received his DDS degree in 1970 & his Oral Surgery degree in 1973. Gary practiced oral surgery from 1973 - 2000. He & his fellow partners had the biggest oral surgery practice in the state of Minnesota. For 21 years he & wife Linda owned & operated an Arabian horse farm in Dayton, Minn. Over the years they did extensive travel to Amsterdam, Spain, Greece, Australia, New Zealand, China, Africa, Italy, Venice, Scotland, Ireland & Hawaii. They imported several horses from Spain & flew them over on KLM. The horse breeding business included growing their own alfalfa hay, breeding outside mares, foaling, training & showing in breeding classes, riding & driving classes. They owned a Cessna 210 & both were experienced flyers. They would fly themselves to Utah, Jackson Hole, & Denver for ski trips. They both were certified scuba divers & dove in Hawaii & Miami, FL. When Gary retired they moved to Sarasota, FL where they continued their golf from Hazeltine Golf Club in MN to TPC Players Club in Sarasota. Gary had a beautiful tenor voice & over the years belonged to several singing groups. He loved music which was a blessing in Gary's final days. Gary battled a dreadful disease for 10+ years. He was a gentle, thoughtful man with a great sense of humor & a large capacity for love. The gifts of creation are never final, even as we are not. He is survived by his loving wife Linda, sister Vicki and husband Phil, brother Kory and wife Marie.