Obituary for Connie Erickson

Connie Erickson

August 29, 1965 — July 8, 2023

Connie Kay (Sanders) Erickson, passed away on July 8, 2023 after complications due to an extended fight with breast cancer.

She was born August 29, 1965 in Ponca City Medical Center to Alta Jean (Wear) and Leeland Roy Sanders. She was the eldest child for Alta and the 2nd daughter for Leeland.

Connie attended Roosevelt Elementary, East Jr. High, and graduated from PoHi and Pioneer Area VoTech in 1983, where she fortuitously majored in Business/Office. She enrolled in the program on a whim and had no idea how much it would benefit her in her adult life.

In high school in 1980, she met a boy in drama class. He asked her out, but her father wouldn’t let her go, because she wasn’t 16 yet. The boy wouldn’t ask her out again, having been turned down the first time, so she asked him out on a group date to the movies after she turned 16. He taught her how to drive a stick and she taught him how to set a trotline. They started dating on March 3, 1982, were married on March 3, 1989, and they continued to annoy and love each other until her last day.

At age 14, she tired of her parents telling her how long she could talk on the phone, so she got a job at Sonic, and she got her own phone. She worked there until 1984 and then she started working as a temporary/fill in secretary at Conoco. She was hired as a full-time secretary position in 1985 in Production Research. She was only 19 when she started that job, and being a predominantly male-dominated field, she always felt like she grew up on the job with 34 big brothers watching over her. She had the rare opportunity to work with people from many different nations and cultures, and felt extremely lucky and blessed that she had that opportunity.

After the merger with Phillips, her research group was broken up, and Connie became a stay-at-home mom for 5 years, followed by serving as a part time librarian at First Lutheran School for 3 years. Following that, she moved on to become school secretary at First Lutheran for 9 years. She was diagnosed with breast and ovarian cancer during her time there. After several years of treatment she was cancer free for a few years, but because of cancer recurrence, she retired from there in the summer of 2022.

In 1994 and 1996, respectively, Mike & Connie had two sons…George Caleb and Daniel Michael Erickson. She loved being a boy mom and felt like she was meant for the role, being a tomboy herself, and thought it couldn’t get any better…until the grandchildren came along. Once they showed up, they instantly became the center of her world.

Connie is survived by her husband George Michael Erickson of the home. Son George Caleb and wife Ashley, and grandchildren Robin and Luke. Son Daniel and wife Leah, and grandchildren Emmalynn, Elizabeth, and Benjamin. She is also survived by her sister Patricia and husband Randall Frantz of Garden City, Georgia, and nephews/niece Stephen, Samuel, and Rachel Frantz and families. Brother Mark and wife Teresa Sanders of Ponca City, OK. Sister-in-law Linda and husband Bob Clampitt of Edmond, OK, and niece/nephew Cami Dickson and Michael Clampitt and families. Brother-in-law John Erickson of Ponca City, sister-in-law Sharon, niece Jeanne Erickson and numerous great-nieces & nephews. She was preceeded in death by her parents.

If you wish to donate to a charity of her choice, she suggests St. Jude’s, because she didn’t know guilt until she showed up for chemo feeling sorry for herself, and then walked by a child hooked up to a chemo bag.

Now, go hug someone & tell them you love them. Make some simple but lasting memories with them. Be in the pictures. Do it now. Don’t make her come back down here.

Until we meet again…❤

Funeral services for Connie were held on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, 10 a.m., at Central Baptist Church with Pastor John Waterloo officiating. Burial will follow with immediate family only at Odd Fellows Cemetery. Online condolences may be made at www.gracememorialchapel.net.