Obituary of Eunice M. Ericsson

Eunice M. Ericsson of Grandy, MN, age 86, passed away on April 4, 2016. Eunice May (Eckhoff) Ericsson was born on August 13, 1929 to Rev. Philip J. Eckhoff and Emily May (Weeks) Eckhoff in Sublette, Illinois. Within two weeks their family of six was on the road in a 1925 Studebaker, baby Eunice swinging snugly in a twine hammock slung from the ceiling, headed for Iberia in the Missouri Ozarks, where her father was to start a new pastorate. This was just the first of many moves in Eunice’s life. After moving back to Illinois, Eunice Eckhoff graduated from Princeton High School, IL, in 1947. In 1951 she received her BA in literature from Wheaton College, IL, where she met her husband-to-be, Kermit Ericsson. It was there that they both felt called to dedicate their lives to God through the mission field. Eunice spent the year after college teaching at Minier High School in central Illinois. Eunice and Kermit married the following summer and moved to Chicago, where Kermit entered the University of Chicago medical school and graduated with an MD. This included six months of training at a TB hospital in Seward, AK, where Eunice taught the hospitalized children. Upon their return to the lower 48, Eunice and Kermit Ericsson started their family and had four girls, Laurie, Kriste, Julie and Cynthia - Laurie being one of the first children adopted in the United States from Korea. At this time the family finalized plans to go to the mission field, leaving for Ethiopia in 1964 to serve under the Baptist General Conference. For the next five years Kermit Ericsson filled in at three mission stations for those doctors on furlough, while Eunice home-schooled their children and taught English as a Second Language to Ethiopian medical personnel. In 1969 the family returned to the United States, choosing to settle in 1972 in the Cambridge, MN area, when Kermit Ericsson was invited to serve as general surgeon for Cambridge Memorial Hospital, which he did until his retirement in 1989. They were able to see five grandchildren through high school and beyond, and the birth of their first great-grandchild. Eunice May Ericsson passed away peacefully at home on April 4, 2016, much loved by both friends and family. Eunice Ericsson is survived by her husband Kermit Ericsson, daughters Laurie (John) Hull of Midland, MI, Kriste Ericsson of Grandy, MN, Cynthia (Bill) Marr of Alexandria, VA; brother Philip (Alice) Eckhoff of Forest Lake, MN, grandchildren Eric (Beth) Hull and their son Tate Hull of Grand Rapids, MI, Rachel Hull of Savoy, IL, Nathan Hull of Grand Rapids, MI, Jessica Marr of Arlington VA, and Emily Marr of Williamsburg, VA. Eunice is preceded in death by her sister Alta Blakely of Chicago, IL, brother Richard of Dover, IL, and by her daughter, Julie (Steve) Santoro of Tucson, AZ.