Marshall Erdman (September 29, 1922 – September 17, 1995) was a

Lithuanian-American Lithuanian Americans refers to American citizens and residents who are Lithuanian and were born in Lithuania, or are of Lithuanian descent. New Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has the largest percentage of Lithuanian Americans (20.8%) in the United ...

builder and colleague of

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

Life

Early life

Erdman was born Mausas Erdmanas on September 29, 1922, in Tverai, Lithuania. He emigrated to the United States at age 17 to live with an uncle in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Education

Following high school, Erdman studied architecture at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

. He joined the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

in 1943, where he helped build the

Remagen Remagen ( ) is a town in Germany in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, in the district of Ahrweiler. It is about a one-hour drive from Cologne, just south of Bonn, the former West German capital. It is situated on the left (western) bank of the ...

pontoon bridge A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, uses floats or shallow-draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the supports limits the maximum load that they can carry. ...

. He returned to his studies after the war, receiving a B.S. in Political Science from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

in 1946.

Career

Erdman started a construction company in 1946, which he incorporated in 1951 as Marshall Erdman & Associates. An integrated healthcare design-build company, Marshall Erdman & Associates grew rapidly, expanding into six different markets throughout the U.S. In early 2008, Marshall Erdman & Associates was purchased by Cogdell Spencer, a healthcare real estate investment trust, for $247 million. This part of Marshall's legacy is now traded on the NYSE as CSA. In addition to founding Marshall Erdman & Associates, he introduced U-Form-It prefabricated house kits to the market in 1953 an
Techline
office furniture in 1969.

Legacy

The Middleton Hills neighborhood in

Middleton, Wisconsin Middleton is a city in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States, and a suburb of the state capital, Madison. Middleton's motto is "The Good Neighbor City." The population was 21,827 at the 2020 census. In 2007, Middleton was chosen as the best pl ...

had its first homes completed in 1996. This development is considered a Neo-traditional design.

Family

Erdman married Joyce Mickey (1924–1992), a UW-Madison student, in 1946, with whom he had four children. Erdman cut off ties to his remaining family members after marrying Mickey.

Work

First Unitarian Society Meeting Landmark Building - panoramio

Projects

*1949–1950:

First Unitarian Society of Madison The First Unitarian Society of Madison (FUS) is a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Shorewood Hills, Wisconsin. Its meeting house was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built by Marshall Erdman in 1949–1951, and has been designated a U.S ...

, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright *1956–1961:

Marshall Erdman Prefab Houses Throughout his career, Frank Lloyd Wright was interested in mass production of housing. In 1954, he discovered that Marshall Erdman, who contracted the First Unitarian Society of Madison, was selling modest prefabricated homes. Wright offered to ...

, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright *1956–1967: medical offices at Doctor's Park, Madison *1957: Wyoming Valley School, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright *1958: Faith Baptist Church *1959: 100 homes in Sherman Village, Madison *1965–1966: Peace Corps camps at St. Croix and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. *1965: medical office building, Georgetown, Massachusetts *1974: first modular medical building,

Delbarton, West Virginia Delbarton is a town in Mingo County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 522 at the 2020 census. History Delbarton was incorporated September 6, 1946, by the Mingo County Circuit Court. The name Delbarton comes from the New Jerse ...

*1975: first

Marshfield Clinic Marshfield Clinic Health System is an integrated health system serving Wisconsin founded in 1916. The system contains several hospitals and many clinics throughout Wisconsin, as well as a medical research institute and an education division, an ...

building *1989: Charlotte Memorial Hospital *1993: Middleton Hills planned community,

Awards

References

External links

Marshall Erdman & AssociatesAbout Marshall Erdman
on ASHRAE - Madison, WI chapter website {{DEFAULTSORT:Erdman, Marshall 1922 births 1995 deaths American construction businesspeople Lithuanian emigrants to the United States University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni 20th-century American businesspeople