By Sterling McGinn
Wednesday, July 10 was a day of loss for Luce County as two leaders and outstanding citizens, Robert Cameron and Kevin Erickson, died following long illnesses.
Cameron and Erickson served as community leaders and public figures for years, with numerous hours of volunteer work outside of their professional lives.
Robert Cameron taught at Newberry High School for decades, impacting thousands of students, athletes, and Newberry citizens.
Cameron was born in Newberry on May 10, 1948, to Robert L. and Melba (Koski) Cameron. The Cameron family was a pioneer family to Newberry with the original settler, Locke Cameron, working as the “barn boss” at the Newberry Charcoal Iron Company.
Cameron attended Newberry Schools and graduated in the Newberry High School (NHS) class of 1966. He studied English and Secondary Education at Northern Michigan University and later earned a M.A. in counseling.
He began his 43-year career as a high school English teacher at NHS in 1970. His students remember his compassion, kindness, and sense of humor. Many freshmen English students remember the journals they wrote in each week, which many former students still have. On many nights, one could see the light from his third-floor classroom as he read those journals and made corrections, observations, and comments about the journal entries.
Randy Fretz, a longtime NHS teacher, close friend, and fellow coach with Cameron, said Cameron taught three generations of NHS students.
“I was teaching kids whose parents I taught, while Bob was teaching the grandkids of his former students,” Fretz said. “He was a really good guy to work with—I learned a lot about teaching, coaching, and dealing with people from Bob Cameron.”
Cameron was also a JV and varsity NHS football coach.
In March of 1988, Cameron was elected mayor of the Village of Newberry succeeding longtime mayor Dave Taylor. During his time as mayor, he worked closely with the State Legislature and then-Governor Jennifer Granholm to prevent the closure of the Newberry Correctional Facility. He was also a board member of the Michigan Municipal League.
Cameron was mayor until 2007.
He also served as Tahquamenon Area Schools teacher’s union president for nearly 40 years and was a member of the board of directors for the Michigan Education Association.
Per his request, there will be no celebration of life or graveside services for Cameron.
Former Luce County Sheriff Kevin Erickson was Michigan’s youngest sheriff ever when he was appointed to the position in 1979 at age 22. For the next 37 years, he continued to win every election and at the time of his retirement in 2016, had been the longest seated sheriff in Michigan.
Erickson was born in Newberry on October 29, 1957, to Harold and Jacquelyn Erickson. He was a 1976 graduate of NHS and earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice at Northwestern Community College.
He began his criminal justice career in 1978 when he was hired as a Luce County Sheriff deputy.
A year later, Sheriff Horace Hosmer died while still in office. The county probate judge, county clerk, and prosecutor had to appoint an individual to serve the remainder of Hosmer’s term. Erickson, then 22, submitted his name to be considered and he was appointed to sheriff.
He was also a member and volunteer with the Michigan Sheriff’s Association, Luce County Search and Rescue, and the Luce County Sheriff’s Department Auxiliary. Erickson was an instructor at Northern Michigan University Police Academy.
Erickson continued to serve Luce County as the sheriff until December 2016.
Following his retirement, he wanted to continue serving the people of Luce County, so Erickson became the district 3 Luce County Commissioner, where he sat on the commission for nearly six years. During this time, he worked security for Pinkerton’s and Enbridge and he also worked at Foster’s Ace Hardware.
In 2022, Erickson became the Luce County 911 coordinator/emergency manager before retiring.
“Sheriff Erickson’s dedication to the citizens of Luce County will be sorely missed,” said current Luce County Sheriff Eric Gravelle. “His dedication and leadership will be missed by the personnel of the Luce County Sheriff’s Department.”
