Frederick S. Erbes Jr.

Fred Erbes, 82, of Sioux City, Iowa died December 21, 2021.

A celebration of life will be held Saturday, January 22 at 10:00 a.m. at Morningside Lutheran Church.  Meyer Brothers Morningside Chapel is handling the arrangements.  The service will be live streamed at   http://youtu.be/FFRjn5-TEPE

and online condolences may be made to www.meyerbroschapels.com.

Fred was born on August 17, 1939 in Janesville, Wisconsin, to Frederick and Helen (Fitzgerald) Erbes and moved to Sioux City in his youth when his father transferred jobs with the Railway Express Agency. 

Fred graduated from East High School in 1957.  He received his bachelor's degree in business administration from Morningside College in 1962 and began working as an admissions counselor there in 1967. Fred was later promoted to admissions director in 1978. He served as director of alumni development from 1985 to 1990.  He then moved to gift planning and retired as assistant vice president-gift planning in 2016.

Fred implemented the W.S. Lewis Heritage Roll of Honor, a program recognizing those who include the college in their estate plans and named after Morningside's second president.  Fred was cofounder a member of Planned Giving of Siouxland and one of three who started a Leave a Legacy chapter in Sioux City. He was a past president of the Siouxland Estate Planning Council.

Fred loved his work, his former colleagues, and his friends.  After retirement, he enjoyed staying connected to friends through his coffee group and golf outings.  He also loved to travel and was fortunate to have great adventures both domestically and internationally.  He was always thinking about where he wanted to go next.  Fred loved cheering on both women’s and men’s Morningside Mustangs sports or attending university concerts and events. 

Fred loved his family and always made it a point to visit or stay connected no matter where they were or what was going on in their lives.  He always tried to attend a special event such as graduation or a wedding.  Fred was frequently the ringleader and always wanted everyone around him to have a good time.

Fred was a long-time member at Morningside Lutheran Church and supported the church as well as many other non-profits whose missions were important to him.  It was important to Fred to give back to others.

Fred is survived by two sons and a daughter and their spouses:  Mitchell (Joy), Jonathan (Kay), Kristen (Barry); his brother David (Nicole); and six grandkids: Elizabeth, Kaleigh, Sarah, Cody, Collin, and Kaitlin. Fred also had 14 great-grandchildren and nieces and nephews.  He was preceded in death by his sister, Phyllis Lewis.

Since Fred worked at Morningside University for more than 48 years in various senior level capacities, the family requests in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Fred Erbes Endowed Scholarship fund at Morningside University.  It’s a place he dearly loved.