Erika Beem-Gorman

CASA GRANDE - Erika "Ricky" Amrhein-Scherm-Beem-Gorman, 94, died on Feb. 19, 2016.
Mrs. Gorman was born in Hof, Germany, on November 1, 1921, and was a daughter of Conrad and Erna Scherm. She was raised and educated in Schweinfurt and Frankfurt. She immigrated to the United States in 1936 and lived in Queens, New York. She worked in her father’s jewelry store on Jamaica Avenue in the Queens Village section until she was 18 and graduated from Jamaica High School. She then became a secretary on Fifth Avenue in New York City. She married Elzia C. Beem of Winterset, Iowa, on Sept. 21, 1943, in New York City while he was stationed there in the Navy during World War II. She lived in New York and California during his service, and they moved to Winterset in 1947, where she was a waitress. She later worked at the Madison County Treasurer’s Office and retired in 1974.
She enjoyed traveling in the United States and to Germany whenever possible. She was always busy in Lutheran church activities, singing in the choir and lending a helping hand where needed. Her leisure activities included bowling, dancing and visiting with friends. The couple visited Yuma in 1976 and bought a mobile home there for their retirement years, but Elzia died in 1977 in Iowa. She moved to Yuma and in 1981 married Ernest J. Gorman. He died in 2004.
In 2010 she moved from Yuma to the home of her son Richard and his wife, Sherry. She enjoyed daily visits from grandchildren and great-grandchildren along with enjoying family celebrations and sporting events of the great-grandchildren. In August 2013 she moved to an assisted living home in Casa Grande because of her physical needs.
Survivors include three sons, Richard Beem of Casa Grande, Rodney Beem of Winterset and Karl Beem of Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina; six grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
Interment will be in Winterset with her first husband and parents.