Erica Ruth Schuppert

Erica Ruth Schuppert died on February 9, 2023, of bilateral pulmonary thrombosis at her home in Windermere, Florida. Born October 20,1975 in Connecticut, Erica grew up around the globe, living in Mexico, Hong Kong, and California before attending college in Oregon. She graduated from Monte Vista High School in 1993 and received her B.A. from Willamette University in 1997. Erica is survived by her parents, Jim and Kristi (Falk) Schuppert, sister and brother-in-law Kaja and Dan Fickes, nieces Elise and Kristi, and many cherished uncles, aunts and cousins. She is also survived by her beloved poodle, Cooper.

Erica was known for her caring, kind heart, her wonderful sense of humor, her joyful personality, her intellect and her infectious laugh. She had many interests—travel, reading, playing cards and games, movies, sports, singing, attending concerts and the theater—and her tastes were wide-ranging and eclectic. She loved to entertain and was an accomplished cook and baker. Born in the Year of the Rabbit, Erica hosted a special Chinese New Year’s celebration just a few weeks before she died, preparing with her dad multiple dishes and passing out red envelopes. Erica also was a talented craftswoman and her family and friends will treasure her beautifully embroidered dish towels, needlepointed pillows and crocheted blankets, pillows and coasters.

She began her career in Harvard University’s development office and quickly showed a strong acumen for fundraising systems. The bulk of Erica’s professional life was spent as a principal consultant with Ellucian, successfully guiding major institutions including the University of Missouri, James Madison University, the University of Rochester, Princeton University, and the Smithsonian as they adopted her company’s Advance software. Colleagues and clients valued her intelligence, patience, positive attitude and unparalleled work ethic, and many considered her a dear friend.

Family was everything to Erica. She was an attentive and loving granddaughter, accompanying her Grandma Erma to London in her 20s and moving to Florida in 2016 in part to be closer to her Grandma Ruth and her dear Uncle Thor. Erica and her sister, Kaja were lifelong best friends and Boston roomates for almost a decade; she was like a second mother to Kaja’s daughters. Erica was her dad’s favorite traveling and Disney buddy and her mom’s favorite hand and foot partner. She never missed a family reunion or celebration and often arrived with a loaf of the family Swedish rye bread or a tin of homemade cookies. And her dogs, Gunnar and Cooper were her treasured fur babies.

Erica will be laid to rest on Saturday, February 18, 2023 at Woodlawn Memorial Park. The visitation and funeral service will take place at 10am at Redeemer Lutheran (3377 Aloma Avenue, Winter Park, Florida.) In honor of her love of dogs, please consider a gift in Erica’s memory to Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation in Walnut Creek, CA: arflife.org. Should anyone wish to send flowers (which Erica loved!) please have them delivered by Friday to the cemetery at 400 Woodlawn Cemetery Road, Gotha, Florida.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.woodlawnfuneralhomegotha.com for the Schuppert family.