Erma Amanda Adkins, 96, died December 7, 2013, at Pipestone County Medical Center.

Erma was born May 3, 1917, to J. Henry and Alvena (Johannsen) Appeldorn on the family farm in Grange Township, Pipestone County, Minnesota. She attended Pipestone High School and graduated in 1935. On August 29, 1940, she married Eugene Carlton (Buck) Adkins in the First Presbyterian Church, Pipestone.

They lived in Bloomington, Minnesota, until 1945, then returned to Pipestone to farm. Erma was the manager of the J. C. Penney catalogue department for 17 years until her retirement.

In 1987, they purchased and moved into a home in Pipestone.

Erma loved to garden and was a member of the Pipestone Garden Club. She enjoyed traveling, especially an annual trip to San Francisco, California, with her brother Roger and his wife Marilyn to visit her sisters, Mina and Lorraine.

Erma is survived by her sons Dean (Nancy) Adkins, Appleton, Wisconsin, and Stan Adkins, Pipestone; daughter-in-law, Mary Ann Adkins, Kearney, Missouri; 7 grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren, and 1 great-great-grandchild; two sisters, Mina Welker, San Francisco, California, and Lorraine Bartlett, Greeley, Colorado; one brother and sister-in-law, Roger and Marilyn Appeldorn, White Bear Lake, Minnesota; and many nieces and nephews.

Erma was preceded in death by her husband Buck, daughter Carmen, son Wayne, granddaughter Lisa, her parents, and sisters Luverne and Margaret.

A memorial celebration of Erma's life will be planned in the spring of 2014.