Jake Erdmann, 68, Coleharbor, died Saturday in his home. Jake had very specific requests and wished to be cremated and have a time for family and friends to share memories and laughs. Family will receive friends on Friday from 2 to 4 at Thompson Funeral Home in Garrison with a reception to follow at Hometown Tavern in Garrison.
Jake Erdmann was born to Hilmer and Nettie (Wegner) Erdmann on March 23, 1951, in a Bismarck hospital. Jake was proudly named after his grandfathers, who were Germans from Russia, and brought up in Garrison.
He was the first and very much cherished of three children born to Hilmer and Nettie and the joy he brought to his parents when he arrived continued throughout his life.
As an only child for his first six years, Jake was much doted upon by his parents and he would inevitably follow them around their home with his little red wooden chair and an entire stick of summer sausage, which he chewed on ceaselessly and which fueled his growth into a fine little boy.
Jake attended grade school and high school in Garrison. While in high school, Jake was a keen athlete and played football and basketball. As a quick and agile guard on the basketball team, he was given the nickname of Jake the Snake. And the basketball court provided Jake with an ideal venue to show off his particularly shapely and hairy legs, which earned him the Mr. Hairy Legs award, a prize he was very proud of.
While growing up, Jake worked alongside the members of his family in the wheat fields of the family farming and custom combining operation.
After graduating from Garrison High School in 1969, Jake attended and graduated from Minot State, where he gained a degree in Business Administration.
Back in Garrison, Jake met Susan Palmer, a mountain-loving woman from Montana who was a very gifted, talented and caring person and the science teacher at Garrison High School. They married in 1977 and moved to Denver, where Jake began his life-long career in the airline industry. His work was varied, and he progressed to many positions that spanned from Denver to St. Louis.  In 1986, Jake and Susie took in a foster daughter, Sheree, and four years later, Theresa, who they later adopted and cared for as their own daughters.
And, as the airline industry is all about travel, that is what Jake and Susie did in their spare time, despite Jake's fear of flying. But Susie's great passion was to travel, so fly they did, making annual trips back to Garrison when they weren't travelling and exploring the world.
In 2002, Susie's happy life -- of travelling, teaching, counselling, crafting, sewing, cooking, baking and spending time with the two girls they fostered -- came to a sad end when Susie lost her precious life in an auto accident in St. Louis, where they were living at the time.
Left with Jake and Susie's beloved Shih Tzu dogs (Bandi and K-D -- also known as "The Girls"), Jake decided to return to his hometown to retire. Once back in Garrison, Jake bought his home just over a mile from that of his only and younger brother, Kelly, and Kelly's wife of over 40 years, Kristi.
The brothers looked very much alike, and, in their early years, people often confused one for the other. But Jake and Kelly were very different in almost every other way. The one thing they did have in common was their love for fishing. However, catching fish wasn't what the fishing trips were about. The fishing expeditions were a time for the brothers to be together.
But Kristi, much adored sister-in-law to Jake, decided Jake needed something more in his life than fishing so she introduced Jake to her friend, Lulu Sayler, with whom Jake spent very many happy years.
Jake liked his daily routine of spending time with his buddies at Hometown, and, when not doing that, spending time on his computer and watching The Young and the Restless, old Western movies and the 5:00 p.m. news.
Jake leaves behind in Coleharbor Lulu and her family; daughters, Sheree Kulp and her sons, Camren and Deven Kulp, and Theresa Erdmann, his sister Brenda and husband David of London; sister-in-law Kristi Erdmann of Garrison; niece Jess Goven and family of Gillette, WY; and beloved nephew Shad Erdmann and family of Bismarck.

Jake was preceded in death by his parents, Hilmer and Nettie Erdmann, wife Susan Erdmann, brother, Kelly Erdmann, and his Dogs Bandi and Katie.