June 26, 1944 - November 08, 2021
Robert Bruce Ericksen Obituary To our cherished father, Robert Bruce Ericksen, who passed away November 8th, 2021. You fought your way all the way to the end and left behind a family filled with nothing but a deep sense of loss without you in our lives. Born in Oakland, California on June 26th, 1944, you grew up fighting every step of the way. As a child you battled asthma, polio, and scarlet fever. As a teenager you fought your way through the toughest schools in California to finally make it into college and attend the University of Southern California. You surfed the breaks of Huntington Beach, fished for shark off Rainbow Pier in Long Beach and drag raced in Sacramento. But the stories of your youth were of a different man from the man I knew. The man I knew was a counselor and friend. You connected with people everywhere you went. A quick trip to the store could take an hour because of the conversations you would strike up with strangers. You turned your gift into a career, and eventually a business, as an executive recruiter in the retail industry. But you never measured success, yours or others, in a traditional sense; you measured success by the person�s strength of character. Your life was filled with champion swimmers, decorated war heroes, world-renowned architects, and heads of enterprise and yet you would come home and tell your family about the interesting janitor or store clerk you met that day. You always found greatness in ordinary people. It was your gift to make people believe in themselves and if you could sprinkle in your faith in Christ, you did. You married your wife, Linda, in 1976 and stayed with her for 44 years having two children who loved you. In the early 90�s you moved us from California to a sleepy town on the Oregon Coast to give us a better life outside the city. You watched my sister and I graduate college and go onto achieve professional success. In mid-2020 you moved to Spokane to live with us and your six grandkids. The last 15 months of your life were quiet, spending time talking with friends, watching movies with your grandkids, playing card games and board games and praying with us nightly. You loved your family: your wife, your kids, your brothers, your grandparents & your parents. You were cut deeply by the ones you lost, having lived enough to have regrets, and loved enough to leave a permanent mark on our hearts. Your faith in the Lord saw you through many difficult times, including countless physical battles. Although you knew better, you sometimes believed your sins were too great to be forgiven. You were wrong. The Lord kept you through this life�s struggles and took you when you were ready and the place He prepared for you was complete. After the many battles throughout your life, your lungs finally gave out and you were taken home to be with our Lord Jesus Christ. In trying to capture who you were, I find myself at a loss. I guess what I can say is that you were the man who rescued me countless times, gave others a second chance and counseled so many through life�s challenges, although you were never a �counselor,� just a friend. We will forever miss your wisdom and your love. You are survived by your wife, Linda, your son and daughter, Cameron and Christel, your daughter-in-law, Katie, and your six grandchildren. A private memorial service will be held. � To plant a beautiful memorial tree in memory of Robert, please visit our Tree Store
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