Wayne Clifford Ericksen was born in Sidney, MT on January 5, 1933 to Clifford and Ellen (nee Sorensen) Ericksen. Interestingly, both sides of Wayne’s grandparents were from Denmark, therefore Wayne was 100% Danish. He attended school in Sidney as well as a country school in the Brorson Community of Montana when his family lived on a farm. In 1950 he started working for Geophysical Service Incorporation (GSI) as a surveyor. Because of his health, he transferred to Texas Instruments (TI) in 1962, working as a machinist and retiring in 1991.
Since Sidney was so small, both his family and Joy’s knew each other and they even had mutual relatives, like having some of the same cousins. Therefore, there is no exact date of when he and Joy met because they had always known each other and ran around in the same group of kids. They started dating in 1950 and became engaged before she started attending nursing school in 1952. They married on August 21, 1955 in Sidney. They honeymooned in Banff, Canada and on their way home, they bought a house trailer in Kalispell, MT and started their married life in Browning, MT.
A month later, they made their first move from Browning to Falfurrias, TX. This was the first of 24 moves before they settled in Carrollton, TX. These moves were done in seven years and covered eight different states, including Montana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Arkansas, Mississippi, and several places in Texas.
While in Hattiesburg, MS, their first child was born, Jeffrey Wayne Ericksen. Eighteen months later, their second child, Scott Alan Ericksen was born in Sulphur Springs, TX. In 1962, they moved to Dallas and became members of Holy Cross Lutheran Church.
In 1965, a group of Carrollton Holy Cross members wanted to start a new Lutheran church and Prince of Peace was born, holding its first service in November of 1966. Wayne and Joy were Charter Members. Wayne served as an Elder, Worship Director, and was also an Usher for 50 years, retiring from that position when POP celebrated their jubilee in 2016.
In the course of his life, Wayne enjoyed hunting, fishing, camping, grilling and traveling. His greatest passion, though, was his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Wayne is remembered by his loving wife, Joy, of 65 years; sons Jeff (Rhonda) Ericksen, Scott (Sandy) Ericksen; grandsons, Ryan Ericksen, Caleb (Jessica) Ericksen, and Eli (Kaely) Ericksen; granddaughters Holly (Chad) Russell and Maggie Ericksen; great-grandchildren, Giada & Grant Ericksen, Charlotte Russell, and Kennedy & Rowan Ericksen; brothers, Boyd (Ginger) Ericksen, John (Robin) Ericksen; sister, Mary Ellen Olmstead and a host of nieces and nephews.
The Visitation and the Celebration of Life Service will be on Friday, July 16, 2021 at 10:00am and 11:00am respectively. Both will be held at Prince of Peace Christian School, Fine Arts Center, 4004 Midway Road, Carrollton, TX 75007 with a reception immediately following in the adjacent Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Fellowship Center, 4000 Midway Road, Carrollton, TX 75007. The service is being held at the school due to construction inside the church’s worship center. A graveside service will be held at 2:30 pm at Hilltop Memorial Park Cemetery, 1810 N Perry Road, Carrollton, TX 75006.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Prince of Peace Lutheran Church via online giving at www.princeofpeace.org/give-online/. You may give, without setting up an account, by filling in your name first, then in the FUND section, select “Memorial-Wayne Ericksen”. Finish up your gift with your credit/debit card or bank account info. If you would rather give by check, please make it payable to “Prince of Peace” with a memo designation of “Wayne Ericksen”.
