Lloyd E. Erickson, 82, Sturgis, died Tuesday, December 19, 2006, at the Sturgis Regional Care Center Hospice Unit.

Visitation will be Thursday from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. at Kinkade Funeral Chapel and Friday one hour prior to the services at the church. Funeral services will be Friday, December 22, 2006, at 2 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church with Rev. Keith Nelson officiating. Burial will follow at Black Hills National Cemetery with military honors by the Sturgis Honor Guard.

Lloyd was born March 21, 1924, on Alkali Divide in Meade County, SD, to Elmer and Bessie (Smith) Erickson. He grew up on a ranch near Alkali. When he was 14, he went to the west coast, where he worked in a cannery. Lloyd served in the U.S. Army. Lloyd married Agnes R. Lettau on May 21, 1951, at the Presbyterian Church in Sturgis. He worked at the Fort Meade VA Medical Center for 38 years, starting as an aide and later in the Occupational Therapy Department and retiring as the supervisor for the Carpenter Shop and Garage.

Lloyd was a member of the Presbyterian Church and was the Fire Chief for the Sturgis Volunteer Fire Department for 20 years, 1968-1988. He worked for the Meade County Ambulance Service for 25 years and was a member of the VFW. Lloyd also started the Sturgis Toys for Tots program. Lloyd received the SD Fire Chiefs Association Fire Chief of the Year Award in 1986, and the State Fire Marshall Award Volunteer Fire Chief of the Year N.W. District in 1977. He was a member of SD Association of Fire Chiefs Charter Member & Director in May of 1988, and the Sturgis Ambulance Service from 1969 - 1997.

He is survived by his wife, Agnes Erickson, Sturgis; two daughters, Rhonda and her husband, Fred McPherson, Sturgis, and Patricia Erickson, Sturgis; three brothers, Carroll Erickson and his wife, Geri, Aberdeen, SD, Melvin Erickson, Sturgis, and Wilbur Erickson, Redman, WA; one sister, Edna Matz, Sturgis; six grandchildren, Emily (Charles) Douvier, Jessica (Mike) Cooper, Baxter McPherson, Lori McPherson, Ashley DeYonge, and Taylor DeYonge; and two great-grandchildren, Natalie Douvier and Grace Cooper.

He was preceded in death by three brothers and one sister.

A memorial has been established to Hospice of the Northern Hills.