Eric was born on January 6, 1962, and passed on August 4, 2021.

Eric was a kind and gentle person. He was always helping someone. He became a junior member of Bassett Rescue Squad at the age of 14. He worked his way up and became a paramedic. He was a lifetime member of Bassett Rescue Squad for 40 years.

Eric began his career at RJ Reynolds Patrick County Memorial Hospital in Stuart, Virginia, in August 1991. It’s where he met his loving wife, Shannon. They began dating December 31, 1993, and married on December 31, 1995. The hospital where they worked struggled and filed bankruptcy several times.

Eric went to work at Franklin County Public Safety in the early 2000s. Two years later he became the instructor for the EMT program for the local high school. The students meant the world to him, and he stayed late three days a week and held tutoring sessions to ensure the students passed his class and passed the EMT National Certification. This class became very popular with the students, and the pass rate for National Certification was in the high 90%. Eric loved teaching high school students and was never embarrassed by the questions high school students would ask.

Eric meant the world to me, and I miss him and his wonderful stories about the good old days at the rescue squad. We were married for 25 years—over half of my life—when I lost him.

Thank you for honoring the fallen heroes.