Howard Erickson

Napa — Forever curious.  Eternally optimistic. A human  monument to stability. That  wide smile that seemed to go on  for miles. And always excited  and involved when it came to his  children, his grandchildren, his  Christian faith, his many friends  from every walk of life and especially his beloved Dorie. Those  are just a few attributes to describe our dad, granddad, great  granddad and, to everyone he  came to know, their loyal friend. 

Between hand cranking  homemade vanilla ice cream in  a circa 1960 ice cream maker  in his backyard and nobody remembering him ever uttering a  single profanity, Howard Erick son came from a place and world  that time forgot.  

Born to Alice Olson Erickson  and Ben Erickson in Kingsburg,  Calif., on July 25, 1928, Howard  grew up in a small farming community 20 miles south of Fres no. Kingsburg was more than 90  percent Swedish-American in  the 1920s and 1930s and Howard learned many values from  that close knit community. The  virtues of hard work, humility,  trustworthiness, and the Swedish community’s core beliefs of  faith and family.  

Howard attended school in  Kingsburg and graduated from  High School in 1946. He enjoyed his High School days and  lettered in football, basketball  and baseball, was active in student government, music and social activities but as he admitted  later academics were not at the  top of his priority list then.  

He next attended junior college in Reedley and got serious  about school in preparation for  transfer to the University of California, Berkeley. He continued  his athletic career and excelled  on the baseball team for two  years.  

While attending Cal he began dating Doris Backlund a  striking, incredibly kind young  woman from Berkeley he had  seen from afar the previous  summer on a visit to the Hume  Lake Christian Camp. His older  brother Roger pointed her out as  one of the Backlund sisters from  Lakeside Baptist Church in Oakland and he remembered that  young woman when he got to  Berkeley. Howard saw her again  at Church and asked her out and  soon they were a couple. 

In 1950, Howard graduated  with a degree from Cal Business School, and Howard and  Dorie married and began a 62- year loving and loyal partnership  that included four children and  a lifetime of memories. It’s not a  stretch to say their relationship  was too sweet, supportive and  real to believe if it weren’t genuinely true.  

His first job out of college was  working in accounting for the  Del Monte Corp. in San Fran cisco. Soon after he was drafted  during the Korean War, serving  Stateside with the U.S. Army  from 1951 to 1953.  

After the war, he decided to  change occupations and earned  his teaching credential from  Fresno State University in 1954  and his M.A. from San Francisco State University in 1957. He  taught at McKinley Elementary  School in San Leandro for five  years and San Jose High School  for a year before beginning his  career in School Administration and making the permanent  move to Napa. 

He started with the Napa  County Office of Education on  March 1, 1960 and five years later when the community voted  to consolidate districts Howard  became the first employee of  the Napa Valley Unified School  District (NVUSD). He served as  Director of Business Services for  11 years before being promoted to Deputy Superintendent in  1976. Howard was renowned as  an expert in school finance and  was honored with a Joint Resolution from the California State  Senate and Assembly for his ser vice when he retired in 1989.  

Church which was then located downtown across from the Napa Register building. Eleven years later, Howard had helped raise enough funds for the church to purchase property for their new sanctuary on Solano Avenue which opened in 1971. Deacon, Elder, Sunday School teacher, chairman of various budget and finance committees. You name it, Howard did it for Grace Baptist as the church grew and positively impacted the community. When he began attending Napa Valley Baptist Church on Trower Avenue in 2000, Howard continued to serve in a variety of leadership positions. 

Listing all of Howard’s civic, professional and athletic accomplishments could take, well, 95 years. So let’s begin by acknowledging that he piled up awards and achievements like hotcakes at a Rotary Club breakfast.  

• 40-year member of the Advisory Board of the Salvation Army. 

• President and Past President of, yes, the Napa Rotary Club. 

• President of the California School Business Official Organization (CASBO). 

• Member of the Napa senior tennis team which won second place in the National Team Tennis Championships and an active tennis player into his 80s. 

Ninety-four years and 362 days is a long life and yet, Howard never seemed, well, old. Yes, he had deep creases in his fore head that could have doubled as a county map. And he seemed to have emerged from the womb with those gold, wire-rimmed spectacles. But he never lost his hair, the gleam in his eyes, his boyish exuberance or his absolute hope and zest for life.  

For all he saw and lived through, for all his professional and personal achievement, he will be most remembered for his faithful love and commitment to his wife and family, his ongoing interest and curiosity in those around him and, of course, his love for chocolate cake and his famous homemade vanilla ice cream! 

Howard passed peacefully at 8:20 PM Saturday night, July 22, 2023. He was preceded in death by Dorie in 2013, and his first-born son Tim in 2016. He is survived by his brother Den nis (Barbara) of San Francisco, his sons Jeff (Cathy) and Tom Erickson of Napa, and daughter Linda Mabe (Keven) of Star, Ida ho; four grandchildren: Bryan Richmond (Brianne) of Napa, Lindsay Ralston (Jim) of Meridian, Idaho, Kyle Mabe (Lauren) of Irvine, and Scott Erickson of San Diego; and six great grand children: Owen, Asher and Ellis Richmond, Brooks and Bentley Ralston. His first great grand daughter, Linnea Mabe was born to Kyle and Lauren just hours before Howard passed but in time for her great grandfather to see her picture and be part of the celebration of her birth. 

The family would like to thank A Partner in Caring and especially Jim Santos for the special care they provided Dad over the past year and a half. 

We extend our gratitude as well to the men in Dad’s “Coffee Group” who he met with at the Golden Bagel for as long as he could go out and who came and visited with him at the home in his final months. 

Thanks also to family friend and writer Mike Wise for his assistance in writing and editing these words many of which come from Dad’s own notes. 

Friends and family are invited to attend the Memorial Service 11 AM, Saturday, September 16 at Napa Valley Life Church, 2303 Trower Avenue, Napa. 

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