Erik Damon Dyke

Erik Damon Dyke was born on October 31,1955 in Battle Creek, Michigan. His family moved to Ann Arbor in 1961, where he attended public schools and later graduated with a bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the University of Michigan.

Erik was a true Michigander, enjoying warm spring and lazy summer days along the Huron River with friends, often imagining a Huckleberry Finn attitude of free thinking and adventure. He was also very fond of the family vacations that were spent "up north."

Music was Erik's passion from an early age. Mrs. Crocker's piano lessons in elementary school, along with the movies "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music", all had an influence on his future musical career. He started playing the cello in 5th grade and then switched to the double bass a year later. Erik was a talented musician and attended various music festivals, including the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara (where he also served as the Operations Manager for 25 years), the Aspen Music Festival, the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds, the Las Palmas Opera in the Canary Islands, the Santa Fe Opera as well as the Interlochen Center for the Arts.

In 1978, Erik was hired by the North Carolina Symphony and moved to Raleigh, NC, where he made lifelong friends and met the love of his life, Anne Larson, whom he married in 2002. Their son, Thor, is a junior at the College of William and Mary, where he is majoring in Economics and swimming on the men’s varsity swim team. Due to Thor's incredible passion for swimming, Erik also spent a great amount of time at the pool, either watching him swim, timing at meets, or being the announcer for his summer swim meets. Thor's love of swimming inspired Erik to swim for exercise as well.

Erik was an active volunteer with several Greater Raleigh area nonprofits, including the Raleigh city-wide Adopt-a-Stream program. In addition, he was a longtime member of the Unitarian Church, where he served on numerous committees, started a ukulele club, and organized and played in many annual musical benefit concerts.

In addition to his wonderful love of music, Erik was very creative and had many interests, including bike riding, building model train layouts, visiting museums, building a natural environment in his yard, birdwatching, reading, and baking cookies. He played the electric guitar and was an accomplished pianist. He loved listening to all forms of music from classical to country and his favorite singers included George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Elvis and ZZ Top!

One of the other things that we all loved about Erik was his unique style! Who could forget his paisley shirts and ties, or his flannel shirts and shorts? He also loved celebrating holidays, making his own Christmas cards and Chex mix, and ringing his sleigh bells!

Erik had a very full and satisfying life that unfortunately ended too soon. He was predeceased by his father, Garold; mother, Elsie; and his younger brother, Karl.

He is survived by his wife, Anne; son, Thor; brother, Kevan; cousins David (and his wife Karin, and their daughter Sabrina), Fritz, and Peter Heinrichs. Erik had two wonderful cats, Ricki and Heidi, who will also miss following him around and sitting on his lap. Erik was loved and will be missed!

We plan to gather to celebrate Erik's life as he would have wanted. In his honor, please wear bright colors to reflect the joy and vibrancy he brought to the world. The service will be held on Saturday, April 19th at 4:00 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh, 3313 Wade Ave, Raleigh, NC 27607.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Wake County Animal Shelter: https://www.thepayplace.com/ncosc/wcanimalcenter/donations/billpreview.aspx

Arrangements by Brown-Wynne, 300 Saint Mary's Street, Raleigh.