About Kellen
Kellen Michael Erickson was born on August 21, 2000 in Kirkland, Washington to Mike and Kimber Erickson.
Kellen was the middle child between sisters Lexi and Laney. He was sweet natured and easy to be around from the beginning, although he did have quite the knack for annoying his sisters as brothers often do. Kellen was blessed to have a large extended family full of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins whom he loved spending time and making memories with.
In his early years, his passions included Matchbox cars, trips to Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast, Washington State University athletics, Nerf hoops, and wrestling and playing football in the living room with his dad.
Kellen loved sports – he loved playing sports, watching sports and stats about sports. He enjoyed watching the Washington State Cougars in basketball and football, March Madness and NBA basketball. His favorite team besides the Cougs was the Denver Nuggets. Kellen took an immediate liking to their star center Nikola Jokic and spent a few years trying to convince his friends he was the real MVP over other NBA stars. He took a lot of heat from his buddies but it turns out he was right!
Kellen played varsity golf, soccer and basketball at Ferris High School in Spokane, Washington. Basketball was his favorite sport, even his favorite video game on the PS4 was basketball NBA 2K and he loved playing it with his friends. Kellen’s teammates enjoyed playing with him because he always thought of them first, continuously looking to set someone up with a good pass or a word of encouragement.
Kellen was always inquisitive and a deep thinker. Sometimes this deep thinking led to anxiety about what his future would hold and how he could possibly make it in the real world. He hid this anxiety from his friends and shared only glimpses of it with his family until the last few weeks of high school.
His anxiety built into a debilitating depressive episode and he was not even able to attend his own graduation. Kellen truly believed that he was the only one who felt the way he did no matter how many times his family told him that he wasn’t. The mental pain he was experiencing was excruciating to watch. He was willing to try therapy and medication and it seemed to help after several weeks but ultimately was not enough.
Even during the times when he was feeling unworthy, he treated people with kindness. It didn’t matter if you were a classmate in the hallways at Ferris High or an elderly lady in his line at the local grocery store, Kellen had a way of engaging with people and making them feel valued. People were drawn to Kellen and were always happy to see him enter the room.
He was an incredible young man, one who left a lasting impression on people of all ages and all walks of life. When all was said and done, the most important things in Kellen’s life were his family, his friends and his dog.
