Westminster Kennel Club 12 Feb 2019: Chris Erickson (& Fred Young too)

 

Chris judging terrier breeds previously at WKC

Many of you know my sister Chris Erickson will be judging the Terrier Group at  Westminster Kennel Club (New York) this next Tuesday (12 Feb 2019). Whether you know her as Christine Marie Young, Chris Freeman or Erickson, there is no denying she has earned this assignment.  As we were kids “raised-in-a-kennel” yours truly knows she has “paid dues” galore, working towards these well earned moments. I also realize she’d be the first to admit the great influence our parents (Fred & Margaret Young) had on her successes in “the dog biz.” I guarantee that they’re looking down from the big show in the sky proudly loving this.

                 

Fred, 2nd from left & parents

 I wrote about our Mom in this blog (May 18, 2015). So, I’d like to tell you about our Dad:  Fredrick A. Young 1924-1987. He was a unique character, beloved by many. Born in January of 1924 in Littleton, Colorado to Velma Littleton (yep- same name as the town) & Arthur Young. He grew up on a farm outside Laporte (Larimer County), CO near Fort Collins. Like many of his peers he journeyed miles on horseback to school uphill (both ways) fighting snowdrifts & blizzards year-round. When my grandparents lost their place in the Great Depression (I term it as “blown back to Oklahoma”), they divorced. Velma & Dad then moved to Glendale, CA. My parents met their first day at Glendale High School (GHS), during new student orientation. Mom, a recent transplant from New Jersey, noticed Dad’s popularity due to a group of boys laughing around him.  Much later he told me he was telling “stories” (aka- adult oriented jokes). 

4 generations: Dad holding me, 1948

Their generation of classmates grew up quickly: World War II saw to that. While still at GHS, Dad enlisted in the U.S. Navy shortly after Pearl Harbor: he was almost 18.  As a Coxswain he served in the Pacific and was part of the U.S. Navy efforts at several key battles, including Midway, Leyte Gulf and Okinawa. During a short leave home in December 1943 he & Mom married.  He was 19, which she would be in another few days. 

After the war he took 2-weeks off before starting a 36-year career with Pacific Bell Telephone. He started as a cable splicer and quickly advanced showing an aptitude for communications engineering. I was their first born, followed by sisters Chris and Laura.

                  

He loved baseball, and was a fair pitcher in his day. He had a good “eye” for talent and scouting too. But his real passion was to bloom in the AKC Dog Show world. Starting with Boxers, my folks evolved into raising/showing Bedlington Terriers (which the Rockefellers also had). His “eye” helped him breed, groom and show some top winners. 

A young Bedlington pup we raised was my best friend “Tonto.” He grew up to be an International Champion and adorn the cover of Sports Illustrated (Feb. 1960). Later that year Dad was grooming a Kerry Blue for the ring at the Pebble Beach dog show when Senator John F. Kennedy, the Democratic candidate for President, stopped by and talked with him (his family had had Kerry’s too). He also campaigned his Mom’s (Velma’s) Norwegian Elkhounds to championships. At dog shows, I became known simply as “Fred Young’s son.”

                  

Malibu kennel

During the early 60’s we moved the family kennel from Burbank to Malibu. After 2-years Fremar Kennel moved back to Burbank- much shorter commute for him to work and me to school (Mailbu had no secondary schools at the time and I “rode the school bus” into Santa Monica .

                  

At Burbank kennel- Chris on right

1970 Great Western Terriers:
My Dad - Meme's Mom

Meme’s parents (Chuck & Ruth Medici) and my parents were good friends through dog show circles for years before we met.  Chris even got her “Erickson” name from Ruth’s nephew. Ah, the dog-biz: bringing some together and driving others apart. Dogs became such an important part of my parent’s life that they didn’t take normal vacations. My Dad would take his time off from work to show, or later judge, at dog shows.

                  

Chris w/ Mom & Dad

Fred & nephews

Dad loved entertaining and bartending: never outgrowing his love for sharing “true” stories (often quite embellished) and jokes galore. He also loved music, being especially fond of Dean Martin and Nat King Cole. Many a morning Chris and I would say good morning at the breakfast table and start singing “Rambling Rose” together.

Showing Elkhound

Our Dad loved a wide variety of sports (and any type of nature program), especially baseball. He was a true-blue Dodgers fan, listening to every game. At my high school commencement he came up afterward to introduce himself to the young lady I’d escorted to senior prom (she was Valedictorian, headed to Wellesley for college): he informed her how moved he was by her speech… so much so, that he turned the volume of Vin Scully’s broadcast on his radio (with earpiece) down as he listened to her.  In addition, he deeply conditioned me as a fan of the Rams, Lakers, USC Trojan football and UCLA Bruin basketball.

Laura on Morgan (Calif. Rangers)

He was a model “Marlboro Man” working and playing hard, a 2+ pack-a-day man. He went through life with an understated smile. When home on weekends, or after he retired from PacBell, he’d ride his Morgan mare before breakfast. I remember the day he quite smoking: he & I went to the Cubs vs. “Our Boys in Blue” game at Dodger Stadium. 

When he retired from PacBell, something both of his daughters would subsequently also do, he was able to spend a lot more time taking AKC judging assignments: first terriers, then hounds and eventually the other groups. He & Mom traveled widely, but usually associated with dog shows. All along he encouraged his children to participate in the AKC realm. 

Rangering at Tonto

I flamed-out: after Navy & college following the National Park Service Ranger trail. I was usually working most weekends while residing in some remote locations. However, sisters Chris and Laura picked up the batons and have been carrying them around the tracks for years. Chris raised and showed Wheaten Terriers (followed by Dachshunds) and Laura has spent years trying to mellow her generations of Australians (no-go). 

When he was diagnosed with lung cancer (1987) he told me it wasn’t the smoking that’d got-to-him, but the cocktail of smoking, asbestos and other exposures. Our kennel, where he spent a lot of time was in between a couple of chroming factories and a dry cleaner producing very bad (carcinogenic) air. In addition, he & I periodically fumigated the kennel house wearing the personal protection equipment for that time period: one cloth bandana worn over the mouth & nose. 

He was told in late June (’87) that he had cancer. He died Nov. 4, 1987. The support our family received from the Dog Show community was overwhelming. We’d lost our compass, but many “dog friends” were there to help show us the way forward. About 400 crowded into the chapel at Forest Lawn, the vast majority being dog-related friends.

Chris with Elkhound

Now it is Chris’ turn. She has been judging for years: way-to-go sis and on with the show. You deserve it. In show-biz parlance: “break-a-leg”

Bedlington Terrier pups
P.S./Note: Even though I didn’t follow in his footsteps at PacBell or dog shows, I know he was proud of all of us. He visited us where we lived and worked. When I was on the L.A. news, regarding an investigation of alleged coyote attacks of an equestrian on my district, he told me I came off as “very professional.” I’m still extremely proud of that accolade and proud to be “Fred Young’s son” and “Chris Erickson’s brother.”

Chris & her brother - a long time ago