Llewellyn “Llew” Erling Erlanson, age 97, of rural Cannon Falls, passed away on Thursday, June 16, 2022. The funeral service was held Sunday, June 19, 2022, at 3:00 PM at Wanamingo Lutheran Church. Pastor Kris Ferkin officiated. Burial was in the church cemetery. Visitation was one hour prior to the service at the church.
Llewellyn Erling Erlanson was born on May 12, 1925, at home in Leon Township, Goodhue County, Minnesota, to Mathias and Minnie (Larson) Erlanson. As a young boy, Llew tilled the family fields with a horse-drawn walking plow in rural Prairie Farm, Wisconsin. He returned to Leon Township in the 1940s to farm with his father and younger brother, Harvey. From 1950 to 1952, Llew served in the U.S. Army as a diesel mechanic at Fort Eustis, Virginia. Following his military service, he worked on street cars in Minneapolis and as a stone mason for his brother-in-law, Austin Brekken. On August 24, 1957, Llew married Mildred “Millie” Thelma Hommedahl at Wanamingo Lutheran Church. Together they moved to Babbitt, Minnesota, where Llew worked for Reserve Mining Company and they started their family. In 1959, they moved to the family farm in rural Cannon Falls where they farmed for the next sixty years. Llew enjoyed his grandchildren, spending time with family, reading and traveling. He especially treasured touring his parents’ homeland in Norway in 2017. Llew will be remembered best for the love of his rural Norwegian heritage and his quick wit.
Llewellyn is survived by his daughters, Laureen Otto and Valerie (Kirk) Lovsness; grandchildren, Andrew and Molly Lovsness; sister-in-law, Bonnie Erlanson; brother-in-law, Timothy Timm; and many nieces and nephews.
Llew was preceded in death by his wife, Millie; daughter, LouAnn; his parents; brothers, Vern and Harvey and sisters, Emogene Brekken and Melorie Ekstrom.
Special thanks go to Seasons Hospice House of Rochester and Pastor Kris Ferkin of Plainview. Arrangements were entrusted to Mahn Family Funeral Home of Zumbrota.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Wanamingo Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 318, Wanamingo, MN 55983.
