MaryAnn Erickson

MaryAnn Erickson, age 90 passed away peacefully at home surrounded by loved ones on November 8, 2025. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Olaf Catholic Church on Monday, November 24, 2025, at 11:00 AM with a Visitation starting at 10:00 AM. Inurnment at St. Loretto Catholic Cemetery.

MaryAnn Inez was born on April 11, 1935, on a farm by Battle Lake to Paul Edgar Williamson and Evelyn Marie (Savoy) Williamson. They moved to Ashby where she attended first grade. They then moved to a farm between Wendell and Fergus Falls where she attended the one room little old brick schoolhouse until eighth grade. She started sewing her own clothes in the second grade. She graduated from Fergus Falls High School, and after graduation she worked for Ottertail Power Company. 

On November 3, 1956, she married Roger Erickson at St. Galls Catholic Church in Tintah, MN. They had two girls and then moved to Oakdale, MN around 1960. They became foster parents and started with two little boys, ages 4 and 5 for two years. Then came the two little girls, Cindy, two months old, and Judy, two years old, and they were loved so much they became permanent family members. They also fostered a two year old, a 16 year old, and a seventeen year old at various times. While in Oakdale, she was quite a seamstress. She made all the costumes for her daughter’s dance recitals. She also made matching dresses for the girls for every holiday, which brought much joy to them. (LOL) She moved to Elbow Lake in 1972 and started various adventures. She started working at the family restaurant, Paul’s Café, in Wendell. She then started her own knitting shop in the early 1980’s in Elbow Lake – Grandee’s Knits and began to go to craft shows where she would have kids (and sometimes adults) make their own sand birds. 

She was a long-time member of St. Olaf’s Catholic Church and Christian Mothers. She enjoyed traveling, but her favorite pastime was playing Bingo!! She loved talking to everyone. She considered everyone a great friend. She thoroughly enjoyed all her friends and family – four daughters, 13 grandchildren, and 19 great- grandchildren, and was looking forward to a new great-great-grandchild. She cherished all of her nieces, nephews, and cousins.

MaryAnn is survived by her children, Carol Lohse, Marcia (Hank) Petermann, Judy (Bruce) Jorgensen, and Cindy (Warren) Niesche. Her grandchildren, Chad Lohse, Cory (Dawn) Lohse, Troy (Michelle) Lohse, Joey (Sarah) Lohse, Curtis (Maggie) Petermann, Henry Petermann, Amanda (Mike) Kinn, Brenda Jorgensen, Sarah (Jeremiah) Spizale, Andrew Jorgensen, Laura Jorgensen, Joel (Megan) Niesche and Mark Niesche. Great-grandchildren, Carter and Ava Lohse, Mackenzie and Abby Lohse, Jordan, Adam, Ashlyn, and Jada Lohse, Kira and Kaleb Lohse, Gabriel Petermann, Connor Petermann, Zoe, Noah, Eli, Gracie, Isaiah, and Will Kinn, and Wyni Niesche; one sister-in-law, Judy Erickson, and many nieces and nephews.

She is preceded in death by her husband Roger, parents Paul and Evelyn, brother Billy, and his wife Leah, nephew Vernon, bothers and sisters-in-law Lenore and Art Hawkinson, George and Erma Erickson, Roseanne and Harvey Gerhardson, and Leonard Erickson, nieces Lori Talbury and Karen Gerhardson, and father and mother-in-law Leonard and Otilda Erickson.