Obituary of Irmgard Luise Erickson

Irmgard passed away peacefully in the early morning of November 26th, 2021 at the Dr Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton, New Brunswick. She was born on June 20th, 1925 in Hinte, Lower Saxony, Germany to the school principal Marton and Marie Luise (Bietendüfel) Meyer. She was the wife of 53 years to Dr. Vincent Erickson, professor at the University of New Brunswick (UNB). She is also survived by her brother, Professor Dr. Hans-Gerd Meyer of Berlin, Germany. She was predeceased by her sister Annelise Gerda Alida Meyer. Irmgard graduated from Teacher’s College of Lower Saxony in Oldenburg, specializing in pedagogy and art. At the time of her marriage to Vincent, she was vice principal of a grade school in Emden, Germany. Upon arrival in Fredericton in 1969, Vincent began his duties as Assistant Professor and Irmgard began the interesting task of learning to be a Canadian. Although she learned both English and French in the German schools, she found that proficiency in English was more important in Fredericton. Her knowledge of German (her mother tongue) was put to good use when she was asked to teach Introductory German at UNB periodically over four years. She also dedicated her talents to music – singing in the St. Dunstan’s Church Choir – and to art – painting in oils and joining the Fredericton Art Club of which she served as president for one year. She was interested in local history and became a life member of the York-Sunbury Historical Society. She was an active outdoors’ woman, becoming an avid gardener and enjoying swimming and boating at the family cottage on Scotch Lake. She liked to walk through the woods and parks of New Brunswick. As a child, she demonstrated skills as a gymnast. In 1936, she was a regional champion and was invited with the other regional champions to come to Berlin as candidates to see who would represent Germany in gymnastics in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Her parents encouraged her not to do this. I am grateful to the management and workers at Ste. Anne’s’ Court, primarily Mr. Premkumar, and to the association at Wellness Connections who have carried out essential duties and made Irmgard’s life as pleasant as possible. There will be a memorial funeral service at Ste. Anne’s Court on Thursday, December 2nd, 2021 at 2:30 pm Atlantic Standard Time. Both residents of the home, as well as friends from the outside are welcome provided that they wear face masks and provide proof of double vaccination and government issued ID. For those unable to attend, a live stream of the service will be available at the following link: https://vimeo.com/651230643 In lieu of flowers, and if wished, donations to a charity of one’s choice would be appreciated.