Church receives amazing collection of 30,000 model cars as a donation

Â© kare11

“This is one of the largest collections in the entire world, right here.”

1 April 2016 14:13

Brilio.net/en -A church in Lakeville, Minnesota, USA, just received an unexpected donation from a recently departed church usher, Dennis Erickson. Erickson was a late civil engineer who died in a house full of model cars in many types and sizes.

Im still a bit overwhelmed. Its nuts! Lisa Lundstrom, the churchs chief financial officer, admitted to Kare. She was surprised to see what he left for the Celebration Church where he served for a long time: a home and its contents.

It was breathtaking when I walked in, she said about her reaction on first look at the property. There were shelves and shelves filled with model cars everywhere: from the foyer to the kitchen, from living room to bedrooms. Literally it's floor to ceiling every single room, said Lundstrom.

The 69-year old man died in his sleep and it was the church that took care of him. Erickson was never married and had no children. He was also the only child to his both late parents therefore he had no one to inherit his possessions to. He didn't have family to put a funeral together for him, we did it as a church, Lundstrom said. Because he was our family.

Erickson gave his house away to the church, and for the first time, he amazed visitors with his amazing collections after he died on December 3, 2015. Even in the hallways, laundry room and bathroom, Dennis Ericksons lifetime cars collection was displayed on the walls. More than 30,000 cars could be found in every corner in that house and two garages. I mean we just kept finding cars, amazed Lundstrom.

There is a full size model T Ford, even the 59 Edsel and 66 Rambler, to show how crazy the collection was. And after weeks of research, Lundstrom learned that Erickson started collecting cars at the age of 9 and bought them from antique shops, car shows and the Internet. This is one of the largest collections in the entire world, right here.

If the days of Ericksons life are to be compared with the size of his collection, he could have bought 1-2 cars everyday. But even after he died, cars were still arriving. He would sit and polish these cars every day. It was his passion, said Lundstrom, noting that the man had also saved and catalogued thousands of automotive brochures and logged every single of his car encounter, from STP to his Edsel and Armor All to the tires.

All of Ericksons cars were displayed in hand-built cases and covered with Plexiglas to keep them from dust. He took better care of these little cars than people take care of people in their lives, said Lundstrom.

But Erickson didnt forget about the living, too. He willed Glenn Lindell, a friend whom he once shared a memorable road trip, a 77 Bonneville in which they had traveled. When he came to pick up the Bonneville, Lindell said, It's really a surprise. But I thank him for it very much.

As Ericksons estate executor, Lundstrom is overseeing the sale of the rest of the collection and still working through the logistics of how exactly that might happen. If I tried to sell it separately, the rest of my life would be Dennis life, she laughed.

Lundstrom predicted the collection could have made six figures and most of it will go to Celebration Church, which could be a good use for remodeling and expanding its youth facilities. I believe that using the gift that Dennis gave to impact future generations is exactly the way he would have wanted it to be, said the church pastor Derrick Ross.

According to Lundstrom, her father Lowell Lundstrom, who is also a pastor, would invite Erickson to their home for holidays but they had never been to his house. To Lundstrom, this whole donation has a much greater value, which is a symbolic of how people felt about him. Lundstrom personally likes to think that Dennis Erickson's heavenly home is a house of cars.