Ronald Ivan Erlandson
August 21, 1937 – November 29, 2009
The Rev. Ronald Ivan Erlandson, former chaplain at the Kensington (The Episcopal Home in Alhambra), died on November 29. He was 72.
Survivors include a brother and many friends. In recent years, Erlandson had undergone Buddhist training, and his Buddhist community will hold the Sukhavati, a memorial service, on Friday, December 11, 7:30 p.m. The Rev. Sally Monastiere will preside at a time of prayer and remembrance on Monday, December 7 at 2 p.m. in Johnson Hall at the Scripps Kensington.
Beginning in 1994, Erlandson was chaplain at the Kensington, succeeding the Rev. Roger Wood. He previously served as vicar of the Chapel of St. Francis in Atwater Village (Los Angeles) from 1984 to 1994, during which time he launched “The Parsonage,” a ministry to the Los Angeles gay and lesbian community in the early years of the AIDS epidemic.
He was also vicar of St. Luke’s Church, Fontana (1979 – 1984) and rector of Church of the Ascension, Sierra Madre (1973 – 1979). Before coming to the Diocese of Los Angeles, he was curate at St. Philip’s Church, Palatine, Illinois (1970-73).
He earned his master of divinity degree in 1970 at Southwestern Theological School, and was ordained to the diaconate in June 1970 and to the priesthood in December of the same year, both in the Diocese of Chicago. Later he earned a degree in counseling at the University of La Verne, La Verne, California and became a licensed marriage, family and child counselor with a special interest in the issues of aging.
He was a member of the diocesan Commission on Affirmative Aging and served as the diocese’s liaison to the wider church’s Episcopal Society for Ministry on Aging. He also served on the Commission Ministry, as secretary of Diocesan Council, on the board of directors of the Gooden Home (now the Gooden Center, an addiction treatment center for men), and as a spiritual advisor for Cursillo. He was a member of the Los Angeles AIDS Interfaith Council, a chaplain to the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital, a board member for the YMCA, and a chaplain at the British Home.
Ron Erlandson was born August 21, 1937 in Rockford, Illinois. He earned a bachelor of arts degree at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois in 1959 and a master’s degree at the University of Chicago in 1961. He was a public school teacher before entering seminary.