Jan. 15, 1927 – May 10, 2023

Erik Ingvar Lindberg of Glendale passed away May 10 at the age of 96 due to natural causes. He was born Jan. 15, 1927 in Sundborn, Sweden.

After high school and college, he served one-year compulsory service in the Swedish Army assigned to artillery. In the fall of 1949 he left his mother, father and three brothers and immigrated to the United States. As a legal immigrant he worked in 1950 in construction as well as doing odd jobs. Not long after, the Korean War started in June 1950 and he was inducted into the U.S. Army and entered service on Jan. 9, 1951. It was while taking basic training at Ford Ord in California that he married Daisy Birgit Johnson on March 17, 1951. Together they raised two daughters.

Once he finished basic training, and due to his degree in engineering from Sweden, he was assigned to the Corps of Engineers. He was first stationed at Fort Belvoir in Virginia where he wrote and illustrated technical manuals. While stationed there he arranged for his wife to join him on the east coast. She obtained a job as a secretary with Corps of Engineers at Fort Belvoir. Since Erik was married, he was allowed to live “off base” and they rented an apartment in nearby Alexandria, Virginia.

Everything was going well until the Korean conflict heated up and more infantrymen were needed; he was then reclassified as “basic infantry soldier” at which point Birgit had to return to Los Angeles and Erik was deployed to the Far East Command of the U.S. Army. He arrived in Yokahoma in the spring of 1952 and prepared to go to Korea. Luck was with him and due to his engineering background he was assigned to Japan Constructions Agency in Tokyo, an organization run by the Corps of Engineers, handling new construction buildings for the U.S. military.

Upon discharge from the Army in January 1953 he started working for Firestone Tire & Rubber Company in South Gate, California – first in the Tire Division. Although he qualified for U.S. citizenship, while he was in the U.S. Army in Japan his request was denied because he was “outside if the territorial United States.” It was not until the summer of 1953 that he became a U.S. citizen. He could then transfer to the Fuel Cell Division at Firestone where he mostly classified business such as fuel tanks for military airplanes, etc. When Firestone planned to move its operations to Arkansas in the fall of 1962 he obtained a position at Aerojet Manufacturing Company in Downey. There he served as a project engineer on various space/defense-related programs, eventually ending up as a project manager of one of the largest programs. He retired in 1990, but continued as a consultant at Aerojet for several years.

Once becoming fully retired he kept busy in several organizations, keeping up the house and yard, going fishing and spending energy by working on automobiles or anything with an internal combustion engine.

He was a member of The Swedish Club of Los Angeles, Vasa Order of America, American Legion Post #3477 and Elks Lodge #2098.

Erik is survived by his three grandchildren: Jennifer Oesterreich of Big Bear City; Erik Oesterreich (Natasha) of Golden Valley, Arizona; and Christopher Oesterreich (Krista) of Sweet Idaho. Also, his great-grandchildren: Andrew, Benjamin, Morgan, Tatianna, Laura, Aubrey, Savannah, Abigail and great-great grandson Elijah. He is preceded in death by Birgit, his wife of 64 years, and their two daughters Ingrid and Christina Lindberg.