Obiturary, printed in La Crosse Tribune, Thursday, November 19, 1998

Erik R. Gunderson

Scottsdale, AZ - Erik R. Gunderson, 24, of La Crescent, MN, died on Monday, Nov. 16, 1998, of cardiac arrest while climbing Camel Back Mountain in Scottsdale, AZ.  He was born in Crookston, MN, on Nov. 12, 1974, to Gene and Rete (Tolley) Gunderson.

The following is taken from Erik's Web page found at: http:www.public.asu.edu/~egunders/.  It nicely summarizes all that is needed for an obituary.

A brief history: Minnesota was where I was born and also where I grew up. Hence, my loyalty to any Minnesota teams (as long as they aren't in the bottom of the cellar). My Minnesota family consists of Gene and Reta (the parents), Aaron and Christian (the older twin brothers), and Auna (the younger sister)...and also Toni (Aaron's wife) and Rob (Auna's new husband) - they paid me to mention their names on my web page (just kidding). I graduated from Winona State University (Winona, MN) with a degree in Composite Materials Engineering in the spring of 1997 (Thank God, finally...). 

After graduation, I worked at IBM (Rochester, MN) for six months-leaving to marry Mary (Carlson) on Dec. 20, 1998, (refer to Web page for photos of our many kisses). During the summer, I worked at Allied Signal Aerospace (Phoenix, AZ) in the Materials and Process Engineering Department. Currently, I am attempting to obtain a Ph. D. at Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ) in material engineering - however, contrary to public opinion, people with Ph.D.'s are not boring, (at least not that boring).

My quote for now is "Carpe Diem" (if you haven't seen Dead Poets Society, the translation is "Seize the Day"). Refer to the best book in history, the Bible, in Eccelesiates 3:11-13: "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom what God had done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil - this is the gift of God." My meaning of that passage is that things will happen, and it's up to you to enjoy life or not...so Seize the Day! The rest of the Bible is "awesome" too...

Interests and Hobbies: Being with my wife, art, traveling, outdoors, the Bible (anything that associates with Christianity and helping others), movies, sports, the list goes on...in fact, I can't think of anything I don't like doing (since life's a great adventure). End.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 2pm at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, La Crescent. Burial will be in the Prince of Peace Cemetery. Friends may call at the church on Friday from 5 until 8pm and again at the church on Saturday from 1pm until the time of services. The Schumacher-Kish Funeral Home of La Crescent is in charge of arrangements.