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We received a phone call this evening from Fay Erb informing us that Galen passed away two weeks ago. While he has not been in perfect health for the past several years, his passing was quick and painless in the midst of family. Here's a link to his obituary:
http://www.jameslhinckleyjrfuneralhome. ... /Galen-Erb
I had the pleasure of knowing Galen for a number of years and seeing him at many conventions. In 2010, my dad bought the black 1959 Adventurer from the Erbs and in 2013, on the way home from the convention, they were able to stop by and visit their old car in its new home and go for a ride (below).
Galen was one of the group of four (along with Craig Lane, Bill Noble, and Alan Ralston) with perfect attendance through the 2010 Springfield, IL Convention. In 2011, he was recovering from quadruple bypass surgery and missed the meet in Reno, NV. The last convention the Erbs attended was the 2013 Lake Elmo, MN meet where one minute Galen was sitting in Alan Ralston's airplane and the next he somehow accidentally was taking off! At the same convention, he was spotted sporting a Tommy Gun. Galen was always kind-hearted and had the enthusiasm of a kid. You will be missed my friend.
Galen was THE person you wanted with you when you were at a swap meet. One time at Hershey, he and I were walking through the vendor's spots when Galen stopped, looked into a box of miscellaneous parts, reached in and pulled out a part, handed it to me and told me to buy it since I'd need it for my '58 wagon. I never would have even noticed the part.
About the story of Galen accidentally taking off in Ralston's airplane - that's just what it was, a story. It never happened, but Alan and Galen had a lot of fun at that convention telling people that it had and seeing how far they could get away with their story before others figured out that they were just making it up! They had me fooled!
Galen won one of our Special Achievement Awards back in 1990 for being the only person to have had his De Soto at all of our first five conventions. Considering that our third convention was north of San Diego, CA, that was some doing. He and Fay won the club's Hernando Award for 2009 "For being charter members, attend most (all in Galen’s case) conventions, helping members with 1959 De Soto questions, and promoting the club during the Hershey car shows in addition to other car shows over the years."
I'd like to believe that Galen and Alan are up in heaven, telling more wild stories, and working on '59 De Sotos.
Bill
I remember being with Galen at one the Hershey fall eastern Meets and he had his white Desoto on the show field. this is the one with the swivel seats.
we were standing around just talking and a gentleman from Europe gave over to him and offered to purchase his car. He said he had cash and a brief case with the cash. Galen asked where is was from and he stated Norway and that he worked on the oil field in the Atlantic. galen then asked what his plans were for the car and he stated he would ship it back to Norway. Now I will not state the amount but it was a very nice amount of money on the table. Galen stated very quickly and Sated No sale because too many of these cars were going overseas and we were losing these cars to European owner. The man walked away very sad. Galen the said to me Fay is going to be very upset that I did not sell the car but he said I will live with it. Later I heard that the same car was sold to a gentleman in the states and that galen was even offered more than what the gentleman from Norway offered So I guess Galen got the best of both worlds and was able to keep the car in the USA and got a better price.
Will miss your smiling face and hope you find Allan up in heaven and find some desotos to talk about.
Rich Hartung
1939 desoto
This is very sad... Galen was one hell of a fellow! I remember talking and joking with him at quite a few conventions. Always something funny to say and an enjoyment to be around.
You will be missed Galen... but not forgotten! Please pass my condolences along to Faye.
Dean Mullinax
Dean Mullinax
1957 Fireflite 2 Door Hardtop
1941 DeSoto Deluxe 2 Door Sedan
It's Delightful, It's DeLovely, It's DeSoto!
