Richard Michael Erickson was born August 8, 1943 in Seattle, Washington. Pictures from his 7th birthday show Rick dressed in his full cowboy uniform alongside his trusty steed, evidence of his early calling. Rick’s cowboy spirit and love for adventure continued into adolescence and throughout his adult life.
He used funds from his Seattle Times paper route to purchase his first car at age 12 (a 1928 Ford Model A Hotrod). He rented a garage from a local woman to keep the new purchase hidden from his parents. This marked the beginning of a life-long love of all things classic and antique. In anticipation of opening a classic car museum near the Seattle waterfront, Rick amassed over 300 pre 1972 vehicles. While the museum never came to fruition, Rick still enjoyed buying, selling and collecting classic cars as well as being active in the classic car community.
Although his dream was to become an archaeologist, he graduated from the University of Washington in 1966 with a degree in urban geography (which presumably he expected would be followed by life as a sort of urban adventurer.) During his years at the University of Washington, he was on the skiing team and bowling team, as well as being an active member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.
During college, he maintained his cowboy credentials by participating in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), rising to the rank of first lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Following graduation, he spent two years in Vietnam running a transportation company in Cam Ranh Bay. His stevedore outfit was in charge of offloading ships and disbursing the munitions, supplies and equipment. In spite of the risks of serving there during the war, he found ways to add enjoyment to the experience. For example, he selflessly volunteered to be the base's Rest & Relaxation officer (a real job, apparently), which allowed him to travel extensively around the region.
His first career after completing his military service was in the real estate field, first selling properties and later becoming a real estate appraiser. This included work for the Small Business Administration and on the Disaster Relief team in Southern California following the San Andreas earthquake.
He returned to Seattle in the early 1970s and continued work in real estate until joining the family's timber business, located on the Olympic Peninsula and headquartered in Seattle.
This location would prove to be crucial, as Seattle is where Rick met his wife Suzanne, and where they raised their two children, Laura and Ryan.
Rick owned and operated the cedar shake and shingle mill (which at one point was the largest producing privately owned shake and shingle mill on the west coast!), logging and trucking operations, and a roofing company based in Redmond, Washington. Rick’s diverse entrepreneurship engaged him in many different businesses including an aluminium recycling plant. Mill operations closed in 1993, but Rick went on to turn his passion for cars into a business, opening a dealership in the Seattle area which he ran until he retired. When he retired, his passion for cars, auctions, garage sales and the next deal or project never waned. Never being fully retired, Rick and his son Ryan worked together in a construction business, real estate investment, and many other projects.
Over Rick’s lifetime, his love of travel and adventure took him to many locations throughout the world, including Hong Kong, Thailand, Sweden (the motherland), France, Italy, Greece, Spain, and Morocco, as well as sights throughout the U.S. and Canada. A trip he recalled fondly was a family excursion to Europe for his 21st birthday on the ocean liner, Ile de France. Also, during a stay at the Bel Air Hotel, when Rick was five years old, he had the pleasure of meeting Babe Ruth who happened to be staying at the hotel.
More locally, on slightly smaller ocean liners, he enjoyed fishing and boating in the rivers, lakes, and sounds of the Pacific Northwest. This was something that often brought multiple generations of Ericksons together, on unforgettable trips with his parents as well as Suzie and the children. He fished all over Vancouver Island and one of his most memorable catches was a 49 pound king salmon caught out of Port Alberni.
Rick’s quest for adventure also manifested itself in the kitchen. Never satisfied making “simple” macaroni & cheese for his kids, Rick imposed many experiments on his family that were in turns delicious and horrifying for his subjects. This led to a fearlessness in his children and the next generation of tiny gastronomes, before “foodie” was a word. He also shared this passion with his granddaughter Natalie. He fostered her love for cooking as they discussed recipes and cooked meals together. She was as much a light in his life as he was in hers, and they got along famously!
Rick remembered many special meals from his travels, and in his last year was on a mission to check many items off his foodie bucket list, including sweetbreads, Wagyu tomahawk steak, caviar, and the ‘perfect’ beer (among many other things.)
He was always looking for ways to bring lightness and laughter to a situation. Even when he knew he was nearing the end of his time with us—whether it was a bright “good morning” to his mother-in-law or welcoming friends and family with a joke or warm greeting.
Rick passed away exceptionally peacefully the morning of Friday the 13th of September surrounded by his family. He was loved and will be remembered as a warm-hearted cowboy trying to bring a little more joy and laughter to the world around him. He is survived by his wife of nearly 42 years Suzanne, children Laura (Marcus) and Ryan (Ermine), and his two grandchildren Kyle and Natalie.
In lieu of flowers, we request that donations be made to the Alvord Brain Cancer Institute at UW Medicine; that link is http://acceleratemed.org/Erickson.
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