Claude Moore Erving Sr.

Claude Moore Erving passed away peacefully on 4 August, 2011, following a long illness. He was born in Billings, Montana to Ellen Moore and Claude McKindry Erving. He and his family moved to St. Paul, Minnesota in the early 1920’s, then to Santa Barbara, California a few years later. After graduating from Santa Barbara High School in 1934, Claude lived in the Santa Barbara area, working as a ranch hand and rodeo competitor until the beginning of World War II. He then enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps, attended pilot training in Arizona, and served as an Instructor Pilot, fighter pilot, and bomber pilot until the end of the war. In January 1946, he married Ingeborg Ella Marguerite Mauss, and returned to Santa Barbara, worked for Eagle Air Freight (one of the first air freight companies in the world), started a blacksmith business, and raised horses until being recalled to the Air Force in 1951. During the subsequent years of his military career, he flew cargo aircraft and worked as a foreign language analyst and electrical engineer until retiring from the Air Force in 1967. He then began a second career as an electrical engineer for the US Air Force until retiring in 1980. His hobbies included hunting, fishing, retriever dog training, painting, and travel. He is survived by his sister, Verna Spacek of Bosier City, Louisiana; children, Gisela Ellen Montfort of McKinney, Claude M. Erving Jr. of Anchorage, Alaska, and Claudia Ann Teinert of Austin; and five grandchildren. Funeral Service will be conducted at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 20, 2011 at Sunset North Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, please make contributions to the Wounded Warrior Project at www.woundedwarriorproject.org or to the Warrior and Family Support Center, 3138 Rawley E. Chambers, Ft. Sam Houston, TX 78219. Expressions of sympathy can be made at www.sunsetnorthfuneralhome.com