Yolanda Kay Erickson

Yolanda Kay Cleland Erickson died on a Monday evening, after a short illness, on December 6, 2021. She was 90 years old and passed from this life in the presence of her eldest daughter and clergy at Taos Retirement Village in Taos, New Mexico.  Yolanda was born in Tucson, Arizona and raised in Nogales, Arizona and in Hoyt and WaKeeney, Kansas. Yolanda attended the University of Colorado in Boulder for a time, then married O. Kenneth Erickson and moved to Southern California. She later moved with her family to Casper, Wyoming where she attended Casper College, studying art under the guidance of Wilhelm Ossa and Ed Gothberg. Among Yolanda’s many aspirations were art, family life, Bible and Hebrew study, sewing, and poetry. By the time of Yolanda’s passing, time, faith, a considerable quantity of red wine, and a love for Taos—her querencia—had healed the wounds of past illness and error. She leaves behind memories of laughter, humorous culinary moments, and a collection of remarkable oil paintings capturing western landscapes, family, homes, shoes and clothing.  Yolanda’s living spirit, in all its complexity, is greatly missed by her children, Kenneth Cleland Erickson, of Columbia, South Carolina, Diane Cleland Eriksson of El Prado, New Mexico, Sarah Cleland Krank of Cheyenne, Wyoming, Laura Cleland Richardson of Blythewood, South Carolina; her grandchildren, Nick Gasowski, Kenneth Scott Richardson, Emily Kate Condry, Olivia Pearl Richardson, Anna Sofia Richardson, Heather Birkbeck, and Amy Zhang; and seven great-grandchildren. 

A private ceremony will take place in January marking the emplacement of cremains at St. James Episcopal Church, Taos. The family expresses deep gratitude to the staff of Taos Retirement Village, and the hospice care staff at Mountain Home Healthcare, for their compassionate assistance to Yolanda and family. Arrangements by Rivera Family Funeral Home. To share a memory, please visit our website at www.riverafuneralhome.com