Our beloved mother, sister, aunt, cousin, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend Dorothy Lenna Hiss Erickson Lloyd passed away Oct. 11, 2021, at Kaysville, Utah, at age 97.
She was born at home in Stockton, Utah, Oct. 12, 1924, to Alfred George Hiss and Lenna Brown. She attended six grades of school in Stockton and then rode the bus to Tooele, Utah, for junior and senior high school. She graduated from Tooele High School in 1941 and then attended Utah State Agricultural College, home economics and business major, in Logan, Utah, for two years. World War II came and Dorothy went to work for the Department of the Army (DAC) at Tooele Army Depot.
Dorothy married Clifford Lloyd Erickson on Aug. 16, 1944, in the Salt Lake Temple. She resigned as a DAC employee in 1946 to take care of their children Carol Diane, Allen Lloyd, Paula Christine and Kenneth Martin Erickson. She went back to work as a DAC executive secretary when her youngest child was in 4th grade. Dorothy worked a total of 29 years for the U.S. Army and retired in Tooele in 1989.
Due to Lloyd’s work with the Department of the Army, the family moved several times. First to Herlong, California; then to Virginia, where he worked at the Pentagon in Washington, DC. Other moves were to Hanover, Illinois; Mt. Carroll, Illinois; Kaiserslautern, Germany; Heidelberg, Germany; and Susanville, California. Dorothy cared for the four children (often “back home” in Tooele) while her husband (“Swede”) was away on multiple overseas and domestic U.S. duty assignments for the Federal Government (13 months in Turkey; 12 months in Vietnam; South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, France, United Kingdom, Greece, Italy, Germany and more). Lloyd and Dorothy came back to their “home” in Tooele in 1976, were near family and friends and both retired in Tooele.
Dorothy and Lloyd lived most of their married life in the mission field and served their family and communities in both civic and church positions. They truly enjoyed those experiences of new surroundings and new friends wherever they went. Dorothy and Lloyd led and taught square dance groups in California and Illinois. They traveled long distances to attend the nearest temple (in the U.S., England, Switzerland). Dorothy and Lloyd served an 18-month LDS mission together in the 1980s at the Family History Department in Salt Lake City. Lloyd passed away in 1987. Dorothy served in many LDS Church wards and branches. She took the initiative to personally teach each of her children in “Home Primary” and MIA (due to the long distances to the nearest chapel). Dorothy was a Gospel Doctrine teacher, Relief Society teacher, organist, music director, Junior Sunday School leader, and Young Women President for the Servicemen’s Stake Europe. Dorothy loved music; she played the piano, the cornet, the organ, and she loved to sing in the church choir, on stage and with her friends in several choral groups.
Dorothy was a Boy Scout Merit Badge Counselor, Cub Scout Den Leader, 4-H Club leader, School Board Secretary and Member, President of the Mt. Carroll Women’s Club, PTA Officer and an all-around, multi-talented, great wife, mother and friend.
Dorothy had memberships in Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), Daughters of Utah Pioneers (DUP), and was heavily involved in Family History research for many years. She was a seamstress, sewing clothing for her two daughters, herself and even her two boys for several years. She crocheted many items, including heirloom blankets, baby shawls, afghans, quilts and blankets.
Dorothy, then a widow, married Bennion Lloyd, a widower, in 1989 and she moved to Ben’s home in Salt Lake City. They had known each other, and had even dated, when they were students in Logan in 1941. This marriage helped to sustain each of them for 26 years. They served together as temple workers in the Salt Lake Temple. Ben passed away in January 2015.
Dorothy is survived by her four children: Diane Higbee (Tom) of St. George, Utah; Allen Erickson (Annie) of Las Vegas, Nevada; Paula Rydalch (Kim, deceased) of Martinez, Georgia; and Ken Erickson (Robin) of Farmington, Utah. Also surviving are her sister Barbara Millward of Tooele, Utah; 13 grandchildren; and 30 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her dear parents, her brother Calvin Hiss, her brother Frederick Hiss, and her two husbands.
Dorothy thanks all who taught her so many good things that helped her throughout this mortal life. She was an excellent student and an avid reader.
Viewing and funeral service will be held Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021, in the Tooele 11th Ward Chapel, 180 S. Coleman St., in Tooele, Utah. The viewing from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. will precede the funeral service, which will begin at 11 a.m. Interment and burial will be next to her husband Clifford Lloyd Erickson at the Tooele City Cemetery.