When Arthur moved to Spring Canyon, one Saturday, one of this friends introduced him to a bunch of school kids that were playing football, and a young man by the name of Lynn Richards said, “I think were just going to call you Leif.” That is how he got his nickname of Leif, and has been called that ever since.
Leif was born, July 12, 1928 in Wattis to Carl (Whitey) Erickson, and Cell Christensen. His father Carl came from Hokksund, Norway, when he was 15 years old, and never returned. Leif’s mother, Cell, was born in Emery. He attended school in Emery and Carbon County.
When he met his wife to be, he was working as a butcher in the company store in Spring Canyon. When they got married in 1949 his boss gave him a whole half a day off. They were married in her mom and dad’s home in Spring Canyon. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Manti Temple on Nov. 11, 1955.
After they got married, he was transferred to the Standardville Store, as a manager, when they closed the mine down, they also closed the store. Then he went to work in the Spring Canyon coal mine as a mechanic, where he worked until the mine had an explosion in 1958, there were four men killed in that explosion, one of those men was his wife’s brother Keith Anderson.
When work got real slow in Utah, they moved to Carbondale, Colo. Where Leif worked for Mid-Continent coal and coke, as a foreman in the coal preparation plant. He worked his way up to become the superintendent of that plant. In all they lived in Colorado for 30 years. They had five children, two boys and three girls. They lost their oldest son to cancer on Jan. 19, 2002. Leif has 17 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
Leif retired in 1990. They moved to Richfield, so they could be close to Fishlake, a place they dearly loved, and also to be close to Rene’s aging mother. Leif and his wife were called to be ordinance workers in the Manti Temple. They served in that calling for six and a half years, which they thoroughly enjoyed.
Because of the failing health of Rene’s elderly mother, they came to the decision to move to Emery, so they could be next door to her and take care of her.
Leif and his wife are very active in the church. At this time, Leif is the high priest group leader, Leif and Bishop Cox are great buddies and are always out doing for others. They work together in the Bishops workshop making picture frames and other things.
Senior of the Week: Arthur (Leif) Erickson
