By Mark Abromaitis
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Twenty-five years ago, an abandoned seminary on the west side of Baltimore became one man’s vision for a new way of retirement living. On that forgotten 100-acre campus, real estate developer John Erickson used the life lessons his parents had taught him to craft a bustling retirement community that celebrates life.

Called Charlestown, the campus is now home to more than 2,000 residents, includes 1,000 employees, and has inspired 20 other Erickson-built campuses just like it around the nation.

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” says Kevin Glover, one of the original Charlestown employees. “And that’s quite a compliment. From John’s parents to his siblings and children—all of them understand the importance of family. And that sense of true community, of knowing and loving your neighbor, is what has inspired Charlestown and every other Erickson community across the country.”

A Guinness world record…
One of 14 children, John Erickson came from humble beginnings. His father was a flower shop owner, and his mother instilled a tireless work ethic in her children.

“I came from a relatively poor family in Chattanooga, Tenn.,” Erickson says. “But the thing that made the diff erence was that my mother and father taught us that education was the denominator in America to determine who you could be.

“All 14 of us ended up graduating from college, thanks in large part to my mother pushing us out the door every day and telling us that even though we didn’t always want to, we had to study and write the next term paper,” he adds.

The Erickson children are featured in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most college educations of any family in the world. “I’ll never forget; she was very proud of that,” Erickson says.