Bruce Erickson

November 7, 1944 - April 5, 2022
In loving memory ~
The family of Bruce Erickson is sad to announce his passing. After a short but hard fight with brain cancer, Bruce died peacefully in the NRGH Palliative Care Unit early on April 5th while surrounded by family.
Bruce is pre-deceased by father Jens, mother Jannette and brother Gordon. Survived by wife Joan, children Sharon and Mike (Angela), grand-children Penny and Abby, siblings Isabel (Reg), Ed (Marlene) and Maret, brothers-in-law Gary and Rob (Donna) Argyle, nieces Susan (Todd), Sarah (Matt), Nicole (Stephen), and Angela, nephews Rob (Debbie) and Brian, great nieces, great nephews, a great, great niece, a great, great nephew and numerous cousins.
He was called many things: son, brother, husband, dad, uncle, cousin, friend, coach, candy-man, but his favourite was probably 'Wompa' (aka grandpa).
Born on Nov 7, 1944 in Comox, BC the family moved to Harewood in Nanaimo when Bruce was a year old. He was a true Nanaimo boy attending Harewood Elementary School, John Barsby Secondary School, NDSS and Malaspina College (VIU).
Bruce was proud of serving in the Canadian Army - specifically The Canadian Scottish Regiment Militia for just shy of 4 years while in high school.
Bruce married his high school sweetheart, Joan, and they celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary on August 5th of last year. They managed an apartment block for the first 5 year's of marriage prior to building their home in East Wellington, just in time for Sharon's arrival. His many neighbours will miss him zooming around on his lawnmower.
He worked at Harmac for 42 years before retiring in 2007. He felt very privileged to have been selected for an Electrical Apprenticeship which became his lifelong career. Upon retiring, Bruce joined other retired Harmac electricians to play tennis, go for coffee and lunches several times a week until recently. Bruce valued these friendships long after retirement.
Bruce's passions were spending time with family and soccer. He liked nothing better than to go to the field and watch youth soccer. He also kept in touch with many of his former soccer players and became a mentor to many of them.
He played soccer growing up and on the Malaspina College (VIU) team while taking courses and working at Harmac. He volunteered as a soccer coach for over 40 years, until the spring of 2017, coaching various ages at League, Metro and Select levels. Also as a volunteer, Bruce refereed games for 44 years, was the Referee Coordinator for 11 years, and also over the years filled roles as Equipment Manager, Tournament Coordinator, Chairman and President positions.
Bruce also volunteered in his community at various organizations including Cubs (Boy Scouts), youth softball and the RDN Parks and Open Spaces Advisory Committee (POSAC) for his local region.
The last few years Bruce thoroughly enjoyed his campfires and maintaining his acreage but most of all, spending time with his granddaughters.
Bruce has a very large extended family in Canada and in Sweden. He thoroughly enjoyed every opportunity to visit and talk with his relatives.
He will be greatly missed.
The family would like to thank the paramedics, NRGH ER and Palliative Care staff for their excellent care of Bruce in his last few days.
In lieu of flowers/gifts, donations can be made to NRGH Hospital Foundation Palliative Care.
The family invites you to attend a Celebration of Life on Sat, Aug 13th from 1:30-4:00 pm at the Cavallotti Lodge, E Wellington Rd, Nanaimo.
(Casual event. Wear your favourite soccer jersey if you have one.)