John E. (Bud) Erickson, 83, died June 9, 2011 at the Cooperstown Medical Center, Cooperstown, ND. True to his nature, he fought his cancer battle with dignity, courage and true appreciation of life. Services will be held Monday, June 13, 2 p.m., at Trinity Lutheran Church, Cooperstown. Visitation will begin today at 12:30 p.m. , followed by the family service at 3:30 p.m., at the Cooperstown Funeral Chapel. Interment is scheduled for Friday, June 17, at 5 p.m., Ness Lutheran Church, rural Cooperstown and will mark his 40 th wedding anniversary.

His parents, John D. and Hulda (Nelson) Erickson, were blessed with the birth of their son John Eldred on June 30, 1927 at the farm near Cooperstown. Father and son shared a strong bond and were best friends throughout their lives. John's greatest loss in life occurred with the death of his father in 1968.

After his graduation from Mayville High School in 1946, he began farming with his dad on a small grains farm near Cooperstown before expanding his own operation near both Cooperstown and Binford. John purchased his first Hereford bull in 1942 – the grand champion at the Crookston Winter Show. This began his successful career of raising purebred Hereford cattle spanning over 40 years. Also in the 1940's, John became interested in flying and purchased a plane used by bush pilots in Canada. He later rented a plane from the Cooperstown Flying Club and used it for pleasure and to check his cattle.

Forty some years of the single life came to an end when the confirmed bachelor met the love – and dance partner - of his life, Marjorie Johansen Lewis. They married June 17, 1971 in Cooperstown. While gaining four step children, all of whom quickly became his own, he and Marjorie were overjoyed with the birth of their son, Jonathan, the following year. Like his father before him, John was a steadfast friend, partner, confidant and counselor to Jonathan.

Few men possess the level of character and integrity that John exhibited on a daily basis. No one entered his home without being offered a cup of coffee or a beer. Congenial throughout his life, he took advantage of every opportunity to engage a stranger in conversation and thus made friends wherever he traveled. His compassion and humanity were so great that even in his sickest of days, he would ask the nurses, doctors and visitors how they were doing and truly wanted an answer.

A believer of giving back to his community, church and profession, he was a member of the Civil Air Patrol, the ND Farm Bureau, the ND Stockmen's Assn., ND Hereford Assn., Trinity Lutheran Church, Ness Church Association, Two-Thirty Investment Club and was a 12-year director of the Cooperstown Farmer's Oil Board. His greatest passion, however, was conservative politics and he lived his life under the same independent and self-supporting principles embedded in the Republican Party. We jokingly wonder if he would have lived longer had Glenn Beck not resigned from Fox News.

Family and friends will likely cry an ocean full of tears over the loss of this great man. However, we are blessed with the enormous serenity that follows the death of a man who lived his life without any regrets. We know with certainty that God is holding him in his loving arms and saying, “Job well done, my child.”

John leaves behind his wife of 39 years, Marjorie, his son Jonathan and wife Brenda Erickson, Cooperstown, daughters Debbie (Ron) Eklund, Beulah, and Patti Lewis (Bill Hixson), Bismarck, sons Mark Lewis, Cooperstown and Ralph Lewis, Reedpoint , MT. Also thankful to have shared his life are his grandchildren, Justin and Alivia Erickson, Cooperstown, Tristaen Tollefson, Twin Falls, ID, Joseph Eklund, Bismarck, Elisha, Ryan and Rory Lewis, Reedpoint, and Ross Lewis, Beulah, ND, one great-grandson, Nathan Tollefson, Twin Falls, one brother-in-law Morris Anderson, Lake Park, MN, and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his father and mother, his step mother, Clara, and his sisters, Marie Baker, Glenna Mae Anderson and Janice Collins.

Memorials preferred to the Cooperstown Medical Center.