Erika Herold

Erika Herold, loving mother, grandmother, sister, and friend, passed away at the age of 82 in Redlands, California on Friday, November 05, 2010. She is survived by her children Linda, Barbara, and John (Linda s husband). She was also the loving grandmother of Lisa. Erika was born in Schlagentin, Germany on October 26, 1928 to Leonard and Therese Hahn (deceased). She was the middle child, between her loving sisters, eldest Elisabeth (Kohler) (deceased) and youngest Waltraud (Trudy Mim). As World War II raged, Erika and her family became separated from each other and endured the hardships of Hitler s regime. Toward the end of the war, the family members found each other and fled to America, where they did not speak the language. Erika began her new life in Los Angeles where she met her future husband, Jakob Herold (born in Arad, Romania), in an education class teaching new immigrants the English language. They were married on July 2, 1955 and later blessed with two daughters, Linda and Barbara. Jakob preceded Erika in death in 2003. Erika and her family moved from Los Angeles to Yucaipa. She lived on land adjacent to her parent s poultry farm, where she assisted her parents with some of the farming tasks. Erika was also was employed by the Yucaipa Unified School District. She started with the school district as a Recess Monitor at Dunlap Elementary. Later, she moved into the school s cafeteria as a cook. Erika was promoted to a supervisor and ended her career at the Yucaipa Elementary School. In 1971, Erika became a proud citizen of the United States of America. She served Jury Duty several times. Erika was a proud and informed voter. Her last act of civic duty was to vote in the November 2, 2010 State election. Her candidates WON and she was pleased. In 2004, Erika moved to Redlands to be closer to her family. For the last two years, she lived at County Villa Skilled Nursing Home in Redlands CA, where she endeared herself to all. Her lifetime hobbies included creating beautiful crochet items, reading, working on word search puzzles, and jigsaw puzzles. Even at the time of her death, she was working on 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles with her daughter, Barbara. Erika truly enjoyed the creative decorations her daughter Linda made for her room to celebrate the yearly seasons and holidays. She enjoyed the freedom of riding the Access Bus Service by herself to her daughters homes for bi-monthly visits. Her happiest moments were spent with her family playing cards at their homes. A celebration of Erika s life was held on Wednesday, November 10, 2010 in Redlands, CA. Interment was held at Desert Lawn Cemetery, Calimesa, CA. She was laid to rest with her husband Jakob, and along with her parents, Leonard and Therese, and older sister, Elisabeth.