See family photos at father Mathias' memorial.

We believe "Erv" died in Lebanon, Wilson, TN with and survived by his daughter Kathy Jones (Tom - deceased) and their two sons and daughters. He was also survived by son Gerald at the time (now deceased) and his children/grandchildren. Erv was coming upstairs from doing laundry in the basement and passed out. He may have had a hemorrhage. He had lived in Orchard Park NY with Aunt Moots (Marie) for many years on Deurr Rd., then to Grand Bend, Ontario for a new job late in his aerospace engineering career for Bell Aerospace and also wintered in a small camp-like community outside of Winterhaven CA/Yuma AZ.

He was the production engineer for Curtiss-Wright (CW) in Buffalo for WWII fighter planes who took over from a Mr. Lee who'd either retired or passed away. Demand was enormous as the air force kept ordering more and more aircraft-- thousands. The plant advertised all over the northeast and drew many to its operation, paying $1.00/hr, twice that of a regular plant-worker wage. Employment in Buffalo was 80,000+ during the war. (Erwin was also a connection for brother-in-law George Roetzer who needed a job badly in 1938 after his coal-delivering business was shuttered from bankruptcy. Other family relatives working for CW included David Murray, an electrician by trade, and Erwin's sister-in-law Mrs. Joseph (Martha Clement) Roetzer, who, in the early days, was the "poster-girl" for the plant at one point, dubbed "Miss Curtiss-Wright".)

Post-war, CW in Buffalo had substantial production for both air force and civilian aircraft. One unique application in his plant was post-war, his shop had fabricated an enormous jig/pattern that facilitated building of the tail sections to large C-130 A/C which had high demand.

Merrill Lynch in the 1960s acquired enough stock to take control of the company, perhaps with a corporate raider in the 'wings'. They eventually shut the Buffalo operations down and transferred out the pension and checking account balances. Erwin left and joined Bell Aircraft/Aerospace in Niagara Falls to oversee the Voyageur hovercraft production in the late 60s/early 70s that was to be manufactured in Grand Bend, Ontario (labor in Niagara Falls was too "costly").

He is NOT buried at Mt. Calvary in Buffalo where his parents and many siblings are, his son Gerald honored his request that his ashes be spread among the pines on his property at which he and Aunt Moots (Marie) used to live on Duerr Rd. in Orchard Park, NY. As he aged, his eyesight declined terribly, a victim of glaucoma I believe.