Eric Victor Ravinowich

Eric was born in São Paulo, Brazil on October 23rd, 1952 to Leon and Dorothea Ravinowich. He grew up in a house of many cultures as his father was originally from Ukraine and his mother from Des Moines, Iowa. From his dad, he developed a great love for all things that moved such as airplanes, cars, and anything mechanical, as well as a love for music. From his mom, came his passion for traveling and for the United States of America. All of these passions, Eric would eventually pass down to his kids.

As an 11 year old, his best friend, Rosa’s brother, introduced him to a young Rosa Lellis Vieira. Rosa and Eric would stay friends throughout his high school years. While in college, Eric and Rosa started dating and eventually married during Eric’s senior year.

Throughout his life, he carried on the friendships that he made in high school at Rio Branco and in college at Mackenzie University. At Mackenzie, Eric studied Mechanical Engineering while playing on the school’s rugby and basketball teams.

Eric and Rosa started their family when their first son, Andre, was born in 1980. Victor, their second, would come in 1982.

Eric worked throughout his career at a few American manufacturing companies and finally at LORD Corporation. While at LORD, Eric was asked whether he and his family wanted to transfer to the company’s headquarters in Erie, Pennsylvania. Jumping at the decision to move to the US, they moved to Erie in 1991.

While at LORD, Eric’s roles focused on the company’s international businesses. From 1991 to 2001, he travelled to Asia more than 100 times. He later was tasked with leading LORD’s European operations which gave Eric and Rosa the opportunity to move to Manchester, England. They returned to the USA when Eric was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic melanoma. He continued to work for LORD in Cary, NC while continuously fighting cancer, finally beating it after 20 years.

Eric’s career continued to progress as he took on new roles with greater responsibility within the organization. Eric always considered his co-workers more than just colleagues, they were truly his friends. These relationships he truly appreciated and cherished. Eric would retire from LORD in 2015 as President, Global Oil & Gas and Industrial Equipment.

After retirement, Eric and Rosa travelled the world. Together they visited most Western European countries as well as Russia, Morocco, India, Turkey, and Antarctica (checking off Eric’s list of visiting all 7 continents). Throughout his career and personal travel, he amassed more than 8 million flown miles with multiple airlines. He and the boys also travelled together to many car events and races, from Formula 1 to historic motoring events, truly a family passion.

He truly lived an incredible life surrounded by people who admired, cared, and loved him.

Eric is survived by his wife Rosa with whom he was married to for 47 years. Together they had two sons, Andre (Susan) and Victor (Tasha). They have 2 grandchildren, Maggie and Luca, and one more on the way. Eric is also survived by two sisters and Rosa’s two brothers, their families, and 7 nieces and nephews.

The Ravinowich family would like to thank the emergency and ICU staff at Duke Raleigh Hospital. The family would also like to send a special thank you to Dr. Michael Morse who supported him for many years as he fought and won his battle with cancer.

A service will be held at Brown Wynne of Cary, beginning with a receiving of friends from 12:00-1:00 pm followed by a memorial service at 1:00 pm.

A live stream recording can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/live/ujDwvHtUNDQ?si=LvgNyR2XU8swzwo6

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Duke Cancer Institute Melanoma and Skin Cancers Fund in memory of Eric.”