Barbara Marie Erickson, 84, Byron

Barbara Marie Erickson, 84, of Byron, passed away peacefully on Monday, March 21, 2022, at the Madonna Summit Memory Care Unit in Byron.

Barbara was born on December 23, 1937, to John and Edith (Predmore) Rother in Rochester. She had two older brothers, Robert (Bob) and John (Jack). Barb grew up in a large house on Pill Hill in Rochester where her parents took on boarders to help make ends meet. Her mother made it a home of hard work and kindness and all who stayed there were treated as family.

During High School she worked at the Lawler theater with her friend Joan and she graduated from Rochester High in 1956.

She attended classes at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and took several office jobs before eventually meeting her husband Anthony (Tony) Erickson. He was a Korean war veteran, originally from Fosston in northern Minnesota who had come to Rochester to work for IBM.

They were married on March 6, 1965 and spent the next few years saving to purchase land near Kasson where they began building a hobby farm in 1969. They raised two sons, Thomas, and Steven, and were active members of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Kasson, where Tony served as an usher for many years and Barb volunteered for the woman’s circles.

Despite growing up a city girl, Barb took to the country life with ease and mastered sewing, cooking, gardening, canning and small animal care, among many other things. In addition to the boys, she helped raise a variety of farm animals and had a particular love of dogs and cats which she cared for all her life.

Barb returned to school after the boys were graduating high school and earned an AA degree from RCC in 1985. She worked first at a local paper and then took a job at the Kasson Variety store where she worked for many years. Barb’s husband Tony eventually retired from IBM but then died suddenly in December of 1994. Fortunately, with the help of good friends and neighbors and a lot of hard work, Barb was able to keep the farm going and even took up traveling which was something she loved to do. With the support of her great friend Nancy, she was able to enjoy trips all over Europe, including Greece, Turkey, England, France, Denmark, and Norway.

In 2001 she became a grandmother and went on to show us how you are supposed to raise children all over again. She will be greatly missed.

Barbara is survived by her brother Jack (Dolores) Rother of Eyota, son Thomas and granddaughter Samantha of Byron, and her son Steve of Minneapolis.

Barbara was preceded in death by her parents John and Edith, her husband Tony, and her brother Bob.

A memorial service was held Friday, March 25, 2022, at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Kasson.