Aileen Eleanor Erickson

Aileen Erickson, 86, of Leonard, Minnesota, went peacefully with her Lord and Savior on Monday, November 10, 2025, at home with her family by her side.
Services will be held on Monday, November 17, 2025, at the First Baptist Church in Clearbrook, Minnesota, with Pastor Randy Reimer officiating. Visitation will be at 11:00 a.m. with the service following at noon. Interment will be held at the Clover Township Cemetery in Leonard, Minnesota, after a church lunch.
Aileen Eleanor (Swanson) Erickson, daughter of Thomas and Petra (Haugen) Swanson, was born at home on her mother's birthday, January 1, 1939, in Clover Township, Minnesota. She lived most of her life in the hills she loved in Clover Township, two miles from her birthplace.
Aileen went to rural Clover School for eight years, pulling her runner sled behind her to sled down the many hills on her way to and from school. She wore prized dresses sewn by her mother from pictures seen in the Sears Catalog. Many of her blouses were from colorful, printed flour sacks. She joked that she told her mother not to make her underwear from the sacks because she didn't want to lean over and have it read, "Pillsbury's Best."
She was the youngest in her family for six years, until her niece and nephew, Valerie "BoBo" and Ronald Ballard, joined their family, followed by the birth of her youngest brother, Larry Thomas, and finally her nephew, Vell "Junior" Ballard. She was especially close to her older brother, LuVerne, and often stayed with him until his hunting death in 1949.
Aileen knew her future husband Benny from a very young age. He was the brother-in-law of her sister Mavis. When she was just 11 years old, he drove her to and from the Bagley Hospital when she had appendicitis and poison oak. Just a few years later, after Benny was drafted into the Army, he picked her up again in a black 1933 Terraplane and they eloped to Webster, South Dakota. They were married on January 6, 1953. After Benny's discharge, they spent time caring for his ailing parents, and eventually purchased a farm outside of Clearbrook, Minnesota. They moved several times until they settled permanently with their four children, Belinda, Sheila, Tina and Shane in Clover Township.
Aileen was a devoted homemaker and mother, as well as a gifted cook and hostess. She was well-known for her thin and soft lefse. After her youngest child reached the age of four, she began working at the Good Samaritan Center in Clearbrook, Minnesota. Later, she was a fourth-grade aide at Clearbrook School. She then attended Bemidji Vocational Technical College to earn a secretarial degree. For a time after this, she worked at Good Samaritan Center again, and then farmed with milk cows, pigs, and chickens. She always loved children and cared for neighbors' children and her own grandchildren. She really enjoyed being a foster grandmother at the Clearbrook-Gonvick Public Schools in her retirement years.
During her lifetime, family and faith were always first and foremost. She and Benny attended services at several different locations throughout the years, including Clover Chapel and even in their home for a time. For the last several decades, they have been faithful members of First Baptist Church in Clearbrook. Aileen served on the mission board as a deaconess and did jail ministry while at First Baptist. Aileen liked to say she was baptized three times in her life: once as a newborn, once as an adult at Long Lake with Pastor Jim Howard, and once more as an infant when her dad drove into the river accidentally after a trip to town. Her brother Jiggs pulled her out onto the roof, while her dad tried to save the sugar bag, but it dissolved right in his hands. They had a great laugh over that at each retelling.
Reading and flower gardening were favorite pastimes for Aileen. She started with vegetable gardening and canning but found her passion in her many abundant flower gardens. She would never pick a favorite flower but often mentioned daisies and hydrangeas. Visitors often requested a tour of her beautiful gardens.
She is survived by Benny, her husband of 72 years of Leonard, Minnesota
Daughter-Belinda (Mike) Lindell of Solway, Minnesota
Daughter-Sheila (Dennis) Lee of Leonard, Minnesota
Daughter-Tina (Alan) Witikko of Puposky, Minnesota
Son-Shane (Laura) Erickson of Bagley, Minnesota
Grandchildren-Robb Lindell, Jessica Meyer, Shalee Ostby, Benjamin Witikko, Alisa Witikko, Mandy Knable and Cole Erickson
Great Grandchildren-Tyler, Matthew and Lily Lindell; Emalyn and Asher Meyer;
Shaydyn and Brynlee Ostby; Ariel Knable
Sister (Niece) Valerie (BoBo) Ballard and Brother (Nephew) Vell "Junior" Ballard
Sister-in-law Leone Swanson
Numerous loving nieces and nephews
She was preceded in death by her parents Thomas and Petra Swanson; grandson Brandon Lindell; great-grandson Andrew Lindell; siblings Mildred Ballard, Newell Swanson, LuVerne "Bucky" Swanson, Mavis Erickson, Ordean "Jiggs" Swanson, Jean Fuchs, Larry Thomas Swanson and (nephew) Ronald Ballard; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Aileen wanted to acknowledge and thank everyone for their love through her long, health struggles these past years. She mentioned her thankfulness for all the visits, beautiful cards, well wishes, treats and phone calls, but especially for all the prayers. She said she had been greatly blessed in this life and looked forward to seeing you again in heaven. She wished blessings to you all and thanked you for being a part of her life.
Messages of condolence may be sent to ceasefuneralhome.com
The Cease Family Funeral Home of Bagley assisted the family with arrangements.