Obituary of Eric Weld

On June 24, 2015, we lost Eric Sterling Weld, an amazing Husband, Dad, Brother, Son, Uncle, Papa and Friend. A man who could talk to anyone and make anyone laugh or smile. Eric peacefully passed away after a period of poor health with his wife Chris and "little" sister Kerry by his side. Eric was born in Peoria, Illinois on Oct. 1, 1960 to Skip and Kay Weld. When he was five years old, the family moved to Boise where he lived for the majority of his life. He attended Whitney and Monroe Elementary schools, South Jr. High and eventually graduated from Borah High School. At age 21, Eric had his only stint as an adult living away from Boise. He joined the AIr Force and was stationed in Germany where he lived for almost 5 years. He enjoyed the foreign experience and learned a lot about life outside of Boise. When he returned, he worked at Cummins Intermountain, Prudential Insurance, and most recently John L. Scott Realty. But his most amazing accomplishment and his pride and joy was building Desert Rains Car Wash in southeast Boise, from the ground up! What a feat! From the beginning, Eric was a naturally gifted athlete. He was good at whatever sport he tried. His first team sport was swimming for the YMCA. At only eight years old (and with very little training) his mom Kay signed him up for the Idaho state swim meet. As the other swimmers stood on their blocks ready to start the race, Eric was nowhere to be found. They finally spotted him hiding in the bathroom, terrified! Kay promised him that if he would only swim in this one race, he could quit the team and never have to do it again. With everyone watching, he took his place on the starting block, flew forward at the gun, swam in a frenzy, and won! He was hooked and went on to win several statewide swimming titles after that. He also excelled in high jump, track, and football throughout his school years and thoroughly enjoyed golfing with his father-in-law later in life. On the high jumping note, he was always so proud to tell the story of how he taught his sister Kerry to do the Fosbury flop when she was still in diapers. The stories of he and his brother Duffy's ability to throw a ball (or snowball) so far, and SO accurately will forever be told. In 1990, he met his wife of nearly 25 years, Chris (formerly Cox) and that is where the fun began! We thought he was a loving family guy before, but when his first baby girl Alison was born, it became very obvious that his family was the most important thing to him … his number one priority! When his second daughter, Rylee was born a couple years later, there was no stopping him! To say that he was a loving family man does not do him justice. They were everything to him. He could never say enough about "his girls". Then, amazingly, he found out he could be even happier when his new best friend was born… his grandson Ryder. He finally had a boy to play with and man did they have fun playing all sorts of "little boy" games. Right up Eric's alley! Eric especially enjoyed trips to Warm Lake, Garden Valley, the Oregon Coast and Mexico where he enjoyed camping, playing board games, swimming, fishing, hunting and cooking . . . all fun times spent with his family accompanied by countless hours of laughter. The memories are still infinite and vivid and always will be. Eric's one of a kind personality and sense of humor were infectious. He was a huge influence on so many people. We adopted many of our mannerisms and catchphrases from him (to list them all would take up the entire paper)! He helped make us who we are today. From Duffy and him making hysterical faces at each other and running around causing trouble, to he and Kerry "cruising" around in one of his cars and singing and dancing to music endlessly. And to almost 25 years of endless family fun and laughs that only he could create with "his girls" at any time and anyplace. Although his physical heart failed in the end, the huge, kind and loving heart that we all described him as having will live on with us all forever… "AND WE LOVE YA FOR IT!!!" Eric is survived by his wife Chris, daughters Alison and Rylee, grandson Ryder, sister Kerry, nephew David Weld (and family) and step dad Rich Rourke. He is preceded in death by mother Kay Rourke, father Skip Weld and brother Duffy Weld.