JOHN MILTON ERICKSON

John Milton Erickson died Thursday, December 30, 2010. He was born August 2, 1936, in Rugby, North Dakota, the son of Frank and Selma (Iverson) Erickson. He grew up in Towner, North Dakota. He received a BA from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, in 1960. He was a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. He married Annette Boutiette in 1960 and they had two children, Lance and Gail. He earned an MS in Marketing at the University Of North Dakota. From 1965 to 1998, he was Professor of Marketing at the University Of Central Missouri, serving as chairman of the Department of Business Administration from 1977 to 1984. He earned an Education Specialist degree from the University of Missouri, Columbia in 1970 and a PhD from Kansas State University in 1976. While at UCM he also guest lectured in Sweden, Mexico, the Netherlands and studied Japanese business and culture at Sanno College in Tokyo, Japan. In 1984, he married Barbara (Bobbie) Hess. Together John and Bobbie enjoyed RVing throughout the US and Canada and also took many international trips. In addition to travel John was an avid fisherman and cook. He was a member of the Chancel Choir at the Methodist Church. John was active in the noon Rotary Club and the Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce where he served on the Military Affairs Committee. Most of all, John was a people person-a peacemaker who managed to stay friends with all sides, a kind person who always found the good and the beautiful in everyone he met. He had a wry sense of humor and loved to tell stories about his own misadventures. John was preceded in death by his parents and infant sister Alice Mae Erickson. He is survived by his wife Bobbie of the home; son Lance Erickson and wife Lisa of Lee's Summit; the daughter Gail Morton and husband Shawn of Lee's Summit; step-daughter Kendy Hess and Dave Woessner of Maynard, MA; brother Jerald Erickson and wife Bonnie; and grandchildren Lauren Erickson, Luke Erickson, Blake Wrisinger, Elizabeth Wrisinger, Christopher Morton, and Dustin Morton. Visitation will be held Monday, January 3, 2011, at the Sweeney-Phillips & Holdren Funeral Home in Warrensburg from 6 to 8 p.m. A memorial service will be held Tuesday, January 4, 2011, at 2 p.m., at the First United Methodist Church in Warrensburg, followed by a gathering for family and friends. Cremation will be followed by a private burial at Sunset Hill Cemetery. Memorial contributions are suggested to the Methodist Church or to the John and Barbara Erickson Scholarship Endowment for International Studies.