Isora Erickson, soprano and choir director

She sang operatic lead roles and also used her skills to give children a chance to make music.

By BEN COHEN, Star Tribune

Last update: July 19, 2008 - 5:45 PM

Soprano Isora Erickson, formerly Isora Iverson, sang lead roles for the Minneapolis Civic Opera, led a choral group of singing moms and used music to help children in need.

Erickson, who in the 1950s founded and directed the Sounds of the Symphoknolls, and was a former director of the Pillsbury-Waite Cultural Arts Center in Minneapolis, died of complications from Alzheimer's disease on June 27 at her home in Prior Lake. She was 86.

In the 1950s, she sang the lead roles in operettas such as Gilbert and Sullivan's "Iolanthe" and "H. M. S. Pinafore" with the Minneapolis Civic Opera.

Over the years, she performed at venues such as Northrop Memorial Auditorium at the University of Minnesota and Macalester College in St. Paul, as well as on radio stations, such as WCCO.

She directed the Symphoknolls for more than 20 years. The group often joined the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra for performances.

Isora Garwick grew up in south Minneapolis and graduated from West High School in Minneapolis in the late 1930s. She studied at the MacPhail Center for Music, completing her musical education in California.

She married Roger Iverson in 1941 and raised a family in Hopkins.

Iverson died in the early 1990s.

Thirteen years ago, she married Walter Erickson of Prior Lake.

"She probably had the clearest, most angelic voice that I have ever heard, absolutely unbelievable," he said.

Whether as the cultural arts chairwoman for the state PTA, director of Pillsbury-Waite or as president of the Sigma Alpha Iota music sorority, she involved children, many with disabilities, in music-making.

In her volunteer posts, "she had a real heart for people of all cultures," such as the children of Vietnamese immigrants, said her nephew, the Rev. Dave Garwick of Maple Plain. "They were her extended family.''

He recalled that she sang sacred music or directed choirs at several churches, and was a regular soloist at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis.

It seemed that wherever she went, she carried her autoharp, strumming it while she sang folk songs. It was also useful in teaching music to children.

"She had an operatic voice, a beautiful soprano," said her nephew.

At home, with friends or in her extensive volunteer work, she relished involving others in music.

"You didn't have to be an accomplished musician to sing with her," said her nephew.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by her daughters, Marlene Frankson of Austin, Minn., Lanette Fetzer of Powell, Wyo.; a son, Roger Iverson of Laramie, Wyo.; brothers, Henry Garwick of Minneapolis, and John Garwick of Manhattan, Kan; a sister, Mary Ida Bay of Palo Alto, Calif.; eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Services will be held at 2 p.m. on July 26 at Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church, 3611 N. Berens Road NW., Prior Lake.

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