After almost two years, Eric lost his valiant battle with cancer. He passed away peacefully at home with his wife Cathy holding his hand. Cathy and Eric shared 35 years of traveling, camping, fishing, nordic skiing and following their love of tennis.
He and Cathy met in 1990. In 1991 they purchased the last affordable Crested Butte house. After major improvements, such as putting a foundation under it, Eric was proud of making their historic 1800 mining cabin a cozy home.
He was a fixture in Crested Butte in “Green,” his 1976 Ford Pickup. He was a pitcher for the local ball team, The Snakes, a dedicated tele skier, an all-season grill master and had a love of music with a huge collection on vinyl and CDs.
For 19 years Eric worked in maintenance at the Gunnison post office and the old Center for the Arts. He also surveyed mining claims, did carpentry, property management and finally started his own repair and maintenance business for local homeowners and friends.
Eric was drafted and when he returned from Vietnam in 1969 he joined his old “nick name” friends from New Jersey living in “the Crater” in Gunnison, aka “Johnny’s Bait Farm.” He was known as Hurricane, aka Hurk. Eric later moved to Crested Butte with several of those friends where he made many more lifelong friends. All stayed by him until the day he died.
