Erding, Charles Edward (1942-2017)
ERDING, BUEHLER, SMITH, WOLFE, BARRY, WICKHAM, PETERSCHMIDT, TAWARA, WESELOH
Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 2/17/2017 at 15:08:50
Charles Edward Erding
July 10, 1942 - January 16, 2017After a long fight with cancer, Charles E. Erding, 74, of Forest City, passed away on his mother’s birthday, Monday, January 16, 2017, at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota.
Charles was born in rural Allamakee County, Iowa, on July 10, 1942. After graduating from Waukon High School, he joined the Air Force. Throughout his life right up to his last breath, he found a great sense of pride in his service to his country.
Married to Marilyn Erding for nineteen years, Charles loved her unconditionally with his heart and soul. She was the Center of his Universe to his last day. My brother and I thank you, Marilyn, from the bottom of our hearts for everything you did for and meant to our dad. You have our undying gratitude and respect for your place in his life. We feel privileged to have been able to spend his last few days with him. We are both honored and humbled by your generosity, and we thank you.
We share our grief with his living sisters affectionately and lovingly thought about as The Aunts, Donna Smith (New York), Dianne Wolfe (Iowa), and Kay Barry (California). We adore each and every one of you, and we know he did too.
Charles played many roles throughout his life, but he treasured most his time with family and friends, watching nature unfold. His favorite activities included keeping track of his birds, working in his yard, counting the cattle next door, and working with wood in his shop.
He enjoyed travel and was particularly fond of Civil War sites, National Parks, and any place he could sit back and watch people do what they do. He, fondly, remembered and shared pictures of trips to the Great Wall of China, Austria, and his family’s original home in Erding, Germany.
Charles is survived by his wife, Marilyn; his sisters, Donna Smith, Dianne Wolfe, and Kay Barry; his children, Lisa Wickham (Paul) and Lyle Erding, as well as by his grandsons, Nick Peterschmidt (Wallcott, Iowa), and Tony Wickham (Davenport, Iowa); his stepchildren, Bill (Nancy) Buehler and Susan (Toshi) Tawara; and his step grandchildren, Katherine Weseloh, Leah and Elijah Buehler, and Mark, Caitlin, and Alex Tawara; as well as other family members and friends too numerous to mention here. Please know that you each had a special place in his heart and made his life better.
Charles is preceded in death by his father, Firmin Erding, his mother, Marguerite Erding, and a sister, Dorothy Ann. We have no doubt that his departure by 7:15 p.m. gave him ample time to make one last call for Happy Hour with Grandma on her birthday.
On behalf of myself and our family, our thanks to each and every one of you who played a bit part in this man’s life. To our dad, Charles Edward Erding, our undying love and devotion to a life well lived by a man well loved.
No services are scheduled at this time. Instead, we, his family, will focus on healing our broken hearts. We intend to plan for a memorial service in the spring. We look forward to honoring his memory once some of the shattered feelings have settled, and we’re ready to do it with a cocktail, some laughs, and in the light-hearted manner he so loved.
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