Private funeral service will be held at 2:00PM on Friday January 29, 2021. Viewing will be from 1PM-8PM on Thursday at Wiebe Funeral Home, Winkler. Maximum 10 people allowed at a time and masks are required. Interment to follow at the Reinland Cemetery. Donations may be made in Eric's memory to a children's charity of your choice.
Eric was born on October 12, 1993 in Winkler, MB. He spent his growing up years in Reinland where he attended school at Border Valley and graduated grade 12 from GVC in 2012. He currently lived in Morden with his brothers, Brad and Mark. As a teenager, he loved to play hockey at the Reinland rink and spent many hours flooding the ice rink along with Mark. Due to his love of hockey, he lost a tooth and tore cartilage in his knee resulting in two separate surgeries. After high school, he met Ryan Loewen and they created a special bond which lasted to the present day. Eric and Ryan were very close and spent a lot of time together; they would have many stories to tell. Eric loved to be busy whether it was constructive or getting into trouble somewhere. He loved four wheelers, snowmobiles, hockey and fishing. He also loved semi-trucks which he drove to the present day. One day, he and Ryan were doing his dad a favor and decided to stop at Timmies for a coffee. As he was ordering his coffee, the lady said, “Sir, could you shut off your vehicle, I can’t hear you.” Turns out he took the semi through the drive thru.. typical Eric thing to do. Eric made a career out of driving truck. His first driving job was for Haskett Growers and then he went on to drive for Windy Lane, Winkler Construction, he drove for the Oil Fields in BC and currently he was driving for Peter Harder, hauling gravel and asphalt for road construction. He had been off work since November and was looking forward to going back to work.
Family was very important to Eric and family was biological as well as extra special friends which included Ryan and his parents, John and Helen Loewen. One might say they became a part of each other’s families. He expressed his love for people by the kind acts he did for others. Eric’s caring nature can be seen in his last week on earth. After hearing of the passing of his nephew, Nathan, he made an extra effort to show his love and support to the family. Eric was very up front and honest with people but also an encourager and always wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings before he parted ways with someone. He loved to help others and would drop what he was doing to help someone else. He especially loved to get a call when someone got stuck and needed a “pull” so he could go and pull them out of a ditch in a snowstorm or the middle of a field while it was raining.
In the early morning hours of January 23, Eric was involved in a one vehicle accident and was taken to Boundary Trails Health Centre and then airlifted to Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg. He had many internal injuries and he passed away due to those injuries later that morning. Eric was surrounded by some of his family when he breathed his last breath and went to home be with the Lord Jesus Christ. A private service was held with interment at the Reinland Cemetery.
The family would like to thank the first responders, RCMP, STARS Air Ambulance and the doctors and nurses at both hospitals, to everyone who gave prayer, food, flowers and cards that were brought to our home. Thank you, Ron and Glenda Gerbrandt and our church prayer chain for the prayer support and thank you, Lord for giving us Eric for 27 years.
Eric was born on October 12, 1993 in Winkler, MB. He spent his growing up years in Reinland where he attended school at Border Valley and graduated grade 12 from GVC in 2012. He currently lived in Morden with his brothers, Brad and Mark. As a teenager, he loved to play hockey at the Reinland rink and spent many hours flooding the ice rink along with Mark. Due to his love of hockey, he lost a tooth and tore cartilage in his knee resulting in two separate surgeries. After high school, he met Ryan Loewen and they created a special bond which lasted to the present day. Eric and Ryan were very close and spent a lot of time together; they would have many stories to tell. Eric loved to be busy whether it was constructive or getting into trouble somewhere. He loved four wheelers, snowmobiles, hockey and fishing. He also loved semi-trucks which he drove to the present day. One day, he and Ryan were doing his dad a favor and decided to stop at Timmies for a coffee. As he was ordering his coffee, the lady said, “Sir, could you shut off your vehicle, I can’t hear you.” Turns out he took the semi through the drive thru.. typical Eric thing to do. Eric made a career out of driving truck. His first driving job was for Haskett Growers and then he went on to drive for Windy Lane, Winkler Construction, he drove for the Oil Fields in BC and currently he was driving for Peter Harder, hauling gravel and asphalt for road construction. He had been off work since November and was looking forward to going back to work.
Family was very important to Eric and family was biological as well as extra special friends which included Ryan and his parents, John and Helen Loewen. One might say they became a part of each other’s families. He expressed his love for people by the kind acts he did for others. Eric’s caring nature can be seen in his last week on earth. After hearing of the passing of his nephew, Nathan, he made an extra effort to show his love and support to the family. Eric was very up front and honest with people but also an encourager and always wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings before he parted ways with someone. He loved to help others and would drop what he was doing to help someone else. He especially loved to get a call when someone got stuck and needed a “pull” so he could go and pull them out of a ditch in a snowstorm or the middle of a field while it was raining.
In the early morning hours of January 23, Eric was involved in a one vehicle accident and was taken to Boundary Trails Health Centre and then airlifted to Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg. He had many internal injuries and he passed away due to those injuries later that morning. Eric was surrounded by some of his family when he breathed his last breath and went to home be with the Lord Jesus Christ. A private service was held with interment at the Reinland Cemetery.
The family would like to thank the first responders, RCMP, STARS Air Ambulance and the doctors and nurses at both hospitals, to everyone who gave prayer, food, flowers and cards that were brought to our home. Thank you, Ron and Glenda Gerbrandt and our church prayer chain for the prayer support and thank you, Lord for giving us Eric for 27 years.