Evan

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~     Evan Dale Erlandson     Written by son, Jim Erlandson, 1999               Born to Ed and Ethel Erlandson in Spokane WA.  Ed was a fireman, eventually becoming the Chief of Station # 12.  Ethel was young at the time of Evan’s birth having married at age 16.      Evan grew up in the near Northeast part of Spokane, his family moving several times in his youth but always staying in that part of town.  Evan was a regular at Mission Park where his primary avocation was baseball.  He loved to hike around the Spokane River and to go down to Doyle’s ice cream parlor when he had change in his pocket.  Evan would spend considerable time at his grandparents home where grandma Erlandson would make delicious lefse on the wood stove.      Evan was a precocious lad especially when it came to music and dance. He and his younger brother Jack became local child stars starting when Evan was about age four.  They had a number of song and dance routines, dressed up in costume or mini tuxedos with top hat and tails.  Ethel was their main booking agent as well as piano accompaniment. Seldom did a talent show or amateur contest occur without Evan and Jackie Erlandson performing and usually tap dancing away with a prize. This continued until Evan was in his teens and the impact of radio and movies had reduced the amount of hometown vaudeville events.      About this time one of Evan’s teachers noticed that he was guessing wildly at answers to what was written on the chalkboard.  Sure enough, she found it was not poor thinking, but poor eyesight that was the problem and since that time he’s worn a couple of coke bottle bottoms on the bridge of his nose.  Evan was always a pretty good student, though somewhat shy, and by the time he reached his senior year in High School he had been selected as the editor of the North Central School Newspaper.  That year the paper won a national contest for High School papers.      After he graduated in December 1939 Evan continued to live at home, and went to the “Youth Guidance Center” to be tested to determine what sort of jobs he should look for.  The Guidance center was so impressed by him that they hired him to work for them.  He worked there until war broke out.  Unable to join the military due to his less than perfect eyesight, Evan becamea civilian worker for the Army Air Corps installations in the Alaska Defense Command.  He worked at installations near Anchorage for over a year before returning to the lower 48.      After Alaska Evan decided to explore the USA a little and took off with his best friend Jim Kokan for Chicago.  There he enrolled at Northwestern University and studied until returning to Spokane in 1945.  Shortly after returning Evan returned to his job as a time keeper in the packing house for Armor Meats.  Not the sweetest of jobs, but one which would provide him with a foundation in industrial engineering and time-study management that would provide a decent career path until the time he retired.  Even to this day, if you watch his face while driving through the unmistakable fragrance of a stockyards or packing house, you can see the a smile of nostalgic reflection fighting with the impulse to gag.       Even though Evan had grown up with tap shoes on his feet, he had never learned the intricacies of ballroom dancing.  So early in 1947 he enrolled in the Arthur Murray School of Dance and very soon met the beautiful and graceful Betty Lou Mikesell. (A side note here, as it is amazing and a tribute to her faith and force of will that the beautiful Miss Mikesell could dance at all, having been born with a crippling disability of her feet and having undergone corrective surgery at the Shriner’s Hospital while such surgical procedures were still very rudimentary).      Soon the couple were inseparable and by November 1947 they were wed in the old white RLDS church on Smith street.  Evan still has many fond memories of that old church.  Just ask him about the time he sat over the heat vent after having acquired a souvenir under his shoe from a local canine.       The following years were happy ones for the young couple.  Church and family activities consumed most of their spare time.  Evan sang in the church choir and even taught Sunday School classes.  Evenings often found them at Ed and Ethel’s home, listening to the radio or playing cards. It wasn’t all a bed of roses though as economically times were tough,  especially with little Jimmie coming along.  Betty then went through some difficult times medically, having two spinal fusions within a one year period.      Time marches on and the 50’s were good times for the young family.  Evan was offered a much better job with Brown Trailer Company, becoming a supervisor.  He continued to play softball with the church team until a nasty injury made him hang up his spikes.  Bowling on the company league, an occasional round of golf, or a day of spin fishing took the place of softball.  Vacations were usually renting a cabin on a lake or traveling to see some of the beautiful western scenery.      Early in the 1960’s the job with Brown Trailers began to disintegrate along with the solvency of the company.  Evan took a large step on faith and quit, but was soon rewarded with a better position with Kaiser Aluminum Corp.      In 1967 Jim graduated and left for Graceland College and not long after married Kathy and they started a family of their own.  Evan and Betty took this opportunity to move out to Loon Lake and to invite a Mexican exchange student into their home. Teraceta  was a huge spark of vitality that energized both of them. It was like looking at the same old scenery through new eyes.       A nine month exchange grew into more like two years and extended to touch several other Hispanic students in the Deer Park school district.  Not long after Teri returned to Acapulco, Kaiser downsized and gave Evan the opportunity to take early retirement.  This he did with great success.  He and Betty began to do some traveling, spending their winters in Arizona, Acapulco, or Lincoln City [OR].      In the early 90’s they moved back into town, mainly to be close to the church and their friends.  As charter members of the “Here Afters” they chaired this prestigious organization until March 1999.  Evan was “inconvenienced” with a 5X heart bi-pass in 1995 and Betty was slowed down a little with a spinal fusion followed by Menieres disease in ’97 – ’98.  But 1999 dawns with both in good health and looking forward to the new century.      Evan and Betty have always been, by their very natures, extremely generous persons.  Most of those who know them feel that the prosperity that God has granted them is a testimony expressing His promise to reward such generosity.  Any friend or family member who has been in need of assistance, whether that assistance is in the form of time, encouragement, labor, advice, housing, or just a friend to talk to, has always been warmly received by these two loving people.  The persons touched by this hospitality and generosity easily number in the thousands and I’m sure would wish to join in this tribute.                                            <back to tribute page     TRIPLES with EMMA