Lita Jean Erickson

Lita Jean (Nehls) Erickson, 92, passed on Monday, August 11, 2025.

Lita was born May 29, 1933 in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin to Lawrence and Neva (Simmelink) Nehls. She came to Montana to teach school. In 1955 she started teaching at the Sollid School. Lita married Francis Lowell Erickson on August 12, 1956 and continued teaching at the Sollid School until 1957. From 1960-1962 she taught at Golden Valley School. Lita went back to teaching at the Sollid School from 1962-1965 and occasionally at Brownell School. After their children, Terry and Reva were born, Lita stopped teaching full-time and would substitute teach from time to time. Lita had many stories during her teaching years. One in particular included how lunch would be warmed up on the school stove. A can of beans was placed in a pot, but someone forgot to poke a hole and eventually the can of beans exploded all over the school books, and they had to clean up the mess all day.

Lita enjoyed gardening, craft projects, and caring for her cats. They took short trips and longer trips in the summer to see relatives in Wisconsin.

Survivors include children, Terry Erickson and Reva Erickson; siblings, Larry Nehls and Ruth Webb; and other family in Wisconsin.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Francis; parents; and twin brother, Leroy.

Lita will be buried next to her husband in Pondera Valley Lutheran Church Cemetery. Memorials can be made to the Conrad Clock Fund at the Conrad Historical Museum.