Therese G. Erickson

Therese “Terry” Germaine Erickson, 81, passed away peacefully with her family by her side, on Sunday, January 19, 2025 to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus.  Memorial services will be at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 25, 2025, at Crawford-Osthus Funeral Chapel in Watertown.  Chaplin Gayle Small will officiate. Readers will be Joe Collins and Tom Beaudry. Music will be provided by Jackie Wettestad as the vocalist and A.J. Sherrill as pianist. Lunch will follow the memorial service.  The service will be live-streamed via our website. A recording of the service will also be available for later viewing on the website.

Visitation will be at the Crawford-Osthus Funeral Chapel in Watertown on Friday, January 24, 2025, from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. and prior to services at the funeral chapel starting at 9:45 a.m.

A warmer-weather graveside service will be planned for a later date at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Watertown.  Active urnbearers will be Mel Erickson, Cheryl Erickson, and Joe Collins. Honorary urnbearers will be Therese’s family and friends. 

Therese was born on October, 21, 1943 to parents John Colling and Elizabeth Eva (Grady) in Granville, Iowa. She was baptized and confirmed at Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church in Granvile. The Colling family moved from Granville, IA to Howard, SD in 1952. At age 14, her mother passed away, and Therese took on responsibility for household chores and sibling supervision during her high school years. She graduated from St. Agatha High School (Howard, SD) as class valedictorian in 1961. Therese graduated from SDSU (Brookings, SD) in 1965. 

After college, Therese moved to Watertown, SD, and she married Luverne Erickson on March 18, 1967. They had 2 children, Cheryl and Melvin. Therese worked as the Medical Lab Director for 43 years at Memorial Medical Center, St. Ann’s Hospital, and Prairie Lakes Hospital. She retired from Prairie Lakes Hospital in October 2008.

Over the years, Therese enjoyed time with her family, weekly phone conversations and laughs with her siblings and friends, lunches with friends, watching and cheering for the SDSU women’s Jackrabbits basketball team and discussing game highlights with her brother Gene, deer hunting with her husband Luverne and her son Melvin, boat fishing, gardening and canning, cooking and baking, sewing quilts and other fabric crafts, informal Bible studies, visiting various MN lake resorts, Union Pacific “Big Boy” trains, classic cars and attending car shows and the BIR drag races, visiting her MN friends, and we can’t forget how much she enjoyed Coca-Cola and related memorabilia.   

Therese is dearly loved and greatly missed. She is survived by her 2 children - daughter Cheryl (Joe Collins) of Shakopee, MN, and son Melvin Erickson of Watertown, SD, her brother Gene Colling (Kyle) of Missoula, MT, her sister Anita Harlan (widow of Mike Harlan) of Portland, OR, her sister-in-law Irene Colling (widow of Fred Colling) of Madison, SD, and nieces and nephews in South Dakota, Montana, and Oregon.  

Therese was preceded in death by her husband Luverne Erickson, an infant son, parents John Colling and Elizabeth Eva (Grady), father-in-law Leon Grygiel, sister-in-law Sandra Erickson, mother-in-law Lois Grygiel (Luken), sister Janice Klein, and brother Fred Colling. 

Memorials may be directed to your church, to PLHS Home Health/Hospice, to a no-kill animal shelter, or to any cause you feel would honor the memory of Therese.

On behalf of Therese, her children extend thanks and gratitude to her family and friends who gathered around her during the last few years of health challenges. We also thank her compassionate and skilled doctors, nurses, care teams, and therapists at Prairie Lakes Healthcare System including: Dr. Dan Reiffenberger and the Northridge Clinic care team, PA-C Kahley Meyer (Cardiology), PA-C Stefanie Roby (Nephrology), Dr. Bipin Amin (Hematology), Phlebotomist Stacie Stanton (Specialty Clinic), all the Home Health nurses, Tori Heier (Occupational Therapy) and Michaelle Peterson (Physical Therapy), Jason Hoots and the Cardiac Rehab team, Dr. Mian M Javaid, Dr. Svien Senne, and Dr. John Kinross, RN Beth Gallisath, House Supervisor Sarah Petersen, and the entire CCU care team. You were all God-given to us, and we are grateful.
 

Arrangements by Crawford-Osthus Funeral Chapel www.crawfordosthus.com Watertown and Hayti.

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