Erik Ivar Larsen

Erik had immigrated to Canada in the 1957 with his first wife Anna, becoming a Canadian citizen in the 70's.  Erik had many different professions, he started out as a car body technician, got into concrete work, went on to do carpet cleaning and kitchen cabinet installation.  Erik had lived in many places in Canada, first in Vancouver, then to Montreal in the late 60’s to mid 70’s, then back to Vancouver island for a short time. Work then pulled him to Calgary from late 70’s to late 80’s, then back to Vancouver where he lived til his wife passed in 1990.  Erik became on of Jehovah's Witnesses back in the early 60's where he served the congregation in many aspects, his love of Jehovah was evident and spoke of the new world even up to his passing.

When we first met Erik many years ago, when he started dating and soon married our mother/grandma Ella in 1991, we knew Erik was going to be an interesting addition to our family.  Our family always referred to him as the energizer bunny as he was always on the move busy doing something and most of the time, hurting himself in the process. He could never sit still. He was the kind of guy who would do anything for his wife, whether it made sense or not. If it made his wife happy, he was happy. When the day came and they needed to move into full care at NSV, although being placed in separate rooms, Erik could always be found by Ella's bedside even though in her advanced dementia she was forgetting who he was. He actually needed to be coerced to go for dinner and go back to his room to sleep by the staff. Even if all she did was sleep the day away, he would be there sitting by her side or at the foot of her bed. His dedication to her was very strong until the day she passed away.

Even his last days living at NSV, Erik was always amicable and kind. Very busy packing and unpacking, making his plans to travel the world. He always had a new story to tell and he was entertaining to care for in his last days. Erik was not one to complain even if he had a reason and before his dementia deteriorated, was very honest about his failings in his life, wishing he could go back and fix things. Towards the end, despite the progression of his dementia, he managed to hold onto the hope that in the future he would be young again and see the loved ones he had lost, once again.

Our family truly appreciates the hard work of the staff at NSV, how well they got to know Erik and Ella, how they just rolled with any new excitement that those two came up with. Words cannot express how happy we were they were safe and well looked after! Erik is now asleep, by Ella's side, awaiting the fulfillment of the future promise he knew so well in Revelation 21:3,4

Lives Cherished and Celebrated