- Date Of Birth: September 29, 1929
- Date Of Death: September 26, 2015
- State: Arizona
Erika Anni King, daughter of Karl Max and Anna Margarete Gahn and loving wife for 61 years of Gerald R. (Jerry) King, flew on angels’ wings into the arms of her Savior and Lord Jesus on Saturday, September 26, 2015. Erika was born October 9, 1929 in Hof/Saale, Germany and lived the past 45 years in Sierra Vista.
Erika graduated from secretarial college in Germany and spent many years of her life in secretarial and clerical positions. She worked for nine years as lead cashier at the old Thrifty Drugstore in Sierra Vista, where she delighted many, especially the young school children and ball-players, with her generous dishing of Thrifty’s 10-cent single and 15-cent double-dip ice cream cones. She took great pride over the subsequent years from being complimented by many former customers who remembered her for her generosity, efficiency, and friendliness at the check-out stand.
Erika met the love of her life, Gerald, in 1951 while Gerald was on border-patrol duty with the US Army Constabulary. They married in 1954 and became the proud parents of Barbara Erika, Eileen Annette, and Christopher Lynn. At the time of her death she was the grandmother of five children, the great-grandmother of seven (with another due in less than a month), and the great-great grandmother of four. She succumbed to a 10 year battle with the ravages of dementia while under the constant and loving care of her husband, and several loving and compassionate caregivers. She was an uncomplaining and docile patient who was a delight to take care of.
The rigors of growing up in Germany during WWII did much to shape Erika’s character. She faced the loss of her father who was killed by Yugoslavian partisans in 1944 and the loss of a grandmother, an aunt, and a cousin to American bombing of her hometown just a month before the end of the war. She was a strong-willed and resolute, but loving lady, with many great qualities. She was a fastidious homemaker who enjoyed needlepointing and quietly endured 16 years of military family life, with numerous moves and two separate one-year family separations, while Gerald served first in Korea and then Vietnam. Coming to the area in 1968, she and Gerald lived in quarters on Fort Huachuca until Gerald’s retirement from the US Army in January 1970, at which time they moved into their new and permanent home at 1964 Viola Drive in Sierra Vista.
Erika Anni King, daughter of Karl Max and Anna Margarete Gahn and loving wife for 61 years of Gerald R. (Jerry) King, flew on angels’ wings into the arms of her Savior and Lord Jesus on Saturday, September 26, 2015. Erika was born October 9, 1929 in Hof/Saale, Germany and lived the past 45 years in Sierra Vista.
Erika graduated from secretarial college in Germany and spent many years of her life in secretarial and clerical positions. She worked for nine years as lead cashier at the old Thrifty Drugstore in Sierra Vista, where she delighted many, especially the young school children and ball-players, with her generous dishing of Thrifty’s 10-cent single and 15-cent double-dip ice cream cones. She took great pride over the subsequent years from being complimented by many former customers who remembered her for her generosity, efficiency, and friendliness at the check-out stand.
Erika met the love of her life, Gerald, in 1951 while Gerald was on border-patrol duty with the US Army Constabulary. They married in 1954 and became the proud parents of Barbara Erika, Eileen Annette, and Christopher Lynn. At the time of her death she was the grandmother of five children, the great-grandmother of seven (with another due in less than a month), and the great-great grandmother of four. She succumbed to a 10 year battle with the ravages of dementia while under the constant and loving care of her husband, and several loving and compassionate caregivers. She was an uncomplaining and docile patient who was a delight to take care of.
The rigors of growing up in Germany during WWII did much to shape Erika’s character. She faced the loss of her father who was killed by Yugoslavian partisans in 1944 and the loss of a grandmother, an aunt, and a cousin to American bombing of her hometown just a month before the end of the war. She was a strong-willed and resolute, but loving lady, with many great qualities. She was a fastidious homemaker who enjoyed needlepointing and quietly endured 16 years of military family life, with numerous moves and two separate one-year family separations, while Gerald served first in Korea and then Vietnam. Coming to the area in 1968, she and Gerald lived in quarters on Fort Huachuca until Gerald’s retirement from the US Army in January 1970, at which time they moved into their new and permanent home at 1964 Viola Drive in Sierra Vista.
