J. Irving Erickson

Rev. J. Irving Erickson, 78, of Park Ridge, former chaplain and librarian for North Park College and Seminary and an authority on hymnody, died Friday in Resurrection Hospital. Rev. Erickson worked at the college for 25 years before he retired in 1974. He was a native of Stambaugh, Mich. He graduated from North Park Junior College in 1937, and its seminary in 1941. He was pastor at Wiley Heights Covenant Church in Wiley Heights, Wash., for several years, before he returned to Chicago to attend Wheaton College, where he graduated in 1945 with a bachelor of arts degree. He graduated from Rosary College with a master`s degree in literature and library science. He was a member and chairman of the Music Commission Evangelical Covenant Church, which published the church`s official hymnal. He wrote articles on hymns and and was considered an authority on the subject. He is survived by his wife, Myrtle; two daughters, Jenanne Anderson and Karin Deitrick; two brothers; and five grandchildren.

--Chicago Tribune, 14 December 1992.