William Walter Erwin

September 28, 1925 – September 12, 2020

Born in 1925 when contacting Central was necessary to put calls through on hand crank phones, William Walter Erwin led a life and career distinguished by service, innovation, and imagination. A lifelong Hoosier, he died age 94 on Sept 12 in Sarasota, Fla., owning a smartphone.

Erwin’s decades of service to community, state, and nation began during World War II when, as a young man, he was a member of the Army Air Corps. Having grown up on a farm in rural Marshall County, when he returned to civilian life he started farming 80 acres he bought with money earned from 4-H projects. He gradually expanded his land holdings and over the years assumed leadership roles in agricultural organizations, at his death holding the distinction of being the longest serving member of the Farm Foundation Round Table -- 65 years.

Under Presidents Eisenhower, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Bush, Erwin applied his farming expertise in rural development issues on the national level through his appointment to significant positions which took him around the country as well as to Washington, D.C. where he served as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture from 1973 to1975. Internationally, he led the US delegation to a United Nations conference on rural development in Bulgaria.

At home, Erwin was elected an Indiana state senator and earned a reputation for problem-solving. During the farm crisis of the 1980s, he served on the board that rescued the quasi-federal Farm Credit System from serious financial difficulty, accomplishing this feat on time and using only one-third of the System’s former budget.

A strong lifelong proponent of education, Erwin earned his bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois where he met his wife, June. He was later awarded an honorary doctorate by Purdue University. He loved learning and pursued his personal interest in history with continuing education courses and through the nightly reading of history books stowed beneath his bed. Family trips included visits to Civil War sites, and he tucked away stories told to him by war veterans he met along the way. He later shared these stories with his children and grandchildren. His appreciation for British history also resulted in family travels overseas.

Erwin took pride in training young, aspiring farmers, and as a member of the Community Foundation of Marshall County, he funded scholarships for students at Ancilla College in Marshall County. He was a member of numerous industry and civic organizations and boards, including the White River Park Development Commission, the Purdue Farm Policy Study Group, the Masonic Lodge, the Shriners, the American Legion, and the Indiana Farm Bureau.

Erwin learned early in life that innovation could pay off. As a boy, he came up with creative ideas to deal with livestock which others thought lacked value, and the result was financial success. He was always open to new ideas in farming which he could adapt to the Indiana acreage he owned, and in 1958 he was named one of four Outstanding Young Farmers in America. In the 1960s he asked experts if a marshy area of the farm could be turned into a pond; they told him it would not work. He knew his land, and he had the imagination and innovative skills to try despite their discouragement. He dug the pond, still beautiful after 55 years, that thousands from the area learned to swim in, receiving Red Cross certificates.

Conservation mattered to Erwin, and in 1970 he joined the newly created Environment Protection Agency as their agricultural consultant. He applied evolving concepts in environmentally responsible farming throughout his career, adapting general recommendations to specific situations he encountered on his farm. He worked to conserve wildlife as well, on the farm and in state parks. Appreciating the area’s history of hardwood trees, he dedicated acres to young walnuts, oaks, and fir, enlisting the help of many of his grandchildren on snowy spring breaks in planting them. He explained his commitment to tree-planting as a type of “deferred gratification,” a precept he taught his grandchildren and demonstrated to them as they grew older and the farm trees grew tall.

Passionate about serving his fellow citizens and country, Erwin also valued serving slices of top quality beef from cattle raised on the farm to his family from the head of the dinner table at holiday gatherings in the farmhouse where he was raised, a structure now on the National Historic Registry. His garden in his later years became legendary for asparagus, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes as well as gladiolas and zinnias which he shared throughout the Bourbon area. His sense of whimsy and being willing to try something new was reflected in his introduction of swans to the farm pond, llamas to the pond field, and peacocks to patrol the farm at large, all to the delight of his grandchildren.

Erwin’s varied experiences and rich imagination made him a popular public speaker, and he published six volumes of historical fiction, often drawing upon stories he told his grandchildren during lengthy drives negotiating the backroads of Europe while on vacation. Will Erwin, a Sagamore of the Wabash and Kentucky Colonel, was preceded in death by his parents, Lewis and Eleanor Erwin; his wife, June Bramlet Erwin; his sister, Emily Erwin Kofron; son, Lewis Erwin II and great granddaughter Anna.

Surviving are his daughter Hope and son-in-law Richard, his son James, daughter-in-law Jacquie, nine grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.

Burial is private, and a celebration of his life will be held POST-COVID-19. Contributions to the Marshall County Community Foundation, Will and June Erwin Community Fund in Plymouth, can be made in his memory. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you plant a tree in his name.

Deaton Clemens Funeral Home is privileged to be entrusted in assisting the family with arrangements.

Friends are invited to sign the online guest book and share memories with the family at: www.deatonclemensfh.com