Erhard Joseph Fertala

Erhard J. Fertala passed away at the age of 94, on Sunday, June 20th (Father's Day 2021) from various ailments but mainly having lived a good, long life..

Erhard was born on November 26, 1926 in Arnoldstein, Austria to Leopold and Elisabeth Fertala. He and his sister Poldi grew up close to their aunts, uncles and cousins. He was impacted greatly by his father leaving when he was 4 years old, Leo immigrated to the United States to make a better life for the family. Erhard followed 7 years later with his mother and sister, to join his father in Chicago, Illinois, He attended elementary school where he mastered the English language due to a supportive school principal, then was accepted into Lane Tech High School, a renowned boys-only magnet school in Chicago for students who excelled in technical coursework. After high school he joined the Marine Corp, serving out his tenure at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, then returned to Chicago to attend the University of Chicago to study electrical engineering. He went to work for a semi-conductor company called Hoffman Electronics, which manufactured many items, such as TV's and stereos, but they were also at the forefront of developing solar cell and semi-conductor technology.

Attending St. Pauls Evangelical Lutheran Church with his family, he developed a close circle of friends, enjoying many sports activities, but especially the beaches of Lake Michigan in summer, and skiing and ice sailing in Wisconsin in the winters. He was involved in a young adult's group at church, where he met his future wife Dorothy. They were married in that church on May 21, 1955. Erhard and Dorothy initially raised their children Gail and Keith in the home that had belonged to Dorothy's grandparents, in the historic Old Town section of Chicago.

In 1961, Erhards' employer transferred them to California, where the climate was more suitable to testing the solar cell technology that Erhard was involved in. They settled in West Covina, where they lived for over 60 years. He had equipment he helped construct end up on the moon, as part of the moon landing experiments of the late 60's, as well as installations for the U.S. Forestry Service and Coast Guard. Following his retirement in 1990, Erhard enjoyed golfing, fishing and travelling with Dorothy, making more than a dozen trips to Europe (especially his home town in Austria), but also trips to Australia, South America, the Caribbean and Canada. And extensively throughout the US..

Over the past 2 years, Erhard chose to leave a lasting legacy in his home village, and honor his mother, thru the sponsorship of a new church bell, to be added to the steeple in the small, 300 year-old mountain chapel where he and his sister were baptized and his parents married. That 4,000 pound bronze bell was cast in March of this year. The "Elisabeth" bell was installed at the church and rang for the first time just 2 days after Erhard's passing.


Erhard is survived by children Gail Stratton (John) and Keith (Becky), grandchildren Erin Graves (Mike), Ryan Stratton, Kristina Washburn (Daniel), and Stefan Fertala. And his 4 precious great-grandchildren Mackenzie, Addison, Hudson and Elenore. He was pre-deceased by his wife Dorothy in 2015 and his sister Poldi in 2017. In the years since Dorothy's passing, he kept busy with playing bridge weekly and spending time with family. But the chance to spend time with his great-grandchildren brought him great joy – he was their "Opa" and they always brought a smile to his face.

A private memorial service is planned locally and per Erhards' wishes, he will be accompanied by family later this summer back to his homeland of Austria, where his heart never left. Burial will take place under the trees of the mountain forest lands he fondly remembers hiking with his family. For more information regarding his service, please contact family at gailstratton@aol.com