uncle doug

(Andree here) Here's something Nancy's Uncle Doug in Minnesota wanted to say in tribute...
* * *
To my dear niece Nancy and all of the Purdom family, it is said by many and most all that met and knew Erik that he touched their hearts and this very much also holds true for me.

His outgoing nature seemed to me to be much like his father's and to me it created and atmosphere that anyone would enjoy.

It is not enough to just say that we miss him, but to say that we all loved him!

My last visit with Erik and Nancy was when they stopped by here at my home on East Battle Lake on their way back from a shoe sales trip to New York.

I am so glad that they did that as it was a great joy for me to see then again. It was also the first time I saw their children and I also immediately became very fond of them. They, no doubt, are much like their parents.

On that last visit Erik gave me a pair of special designed shoes which I am wearing now as I write this. My sister, Gerry, recently described them as "European Style". I will now cherish them forever with thoughts of Eric.

I most certainly wish that I could have made the trip to Washington for Erik Rising as I know it will be something very special. As it is I have been in tears so much of the time with this that I have had very difficult time in writing this.

Close family ties have always been very meaningful to me and I do plan to visit family out there again, though, sometime in the future.

The Washougal area also brings back many pleasant memories with all of the time I spent on Lake River there years ago.

I can not say enough for what a great loss it is to lose Erik...


Doug Kramer

audrey campbell writes

(Andree here) Amy Collen - a major force in the team that brought the multimedia presentation to the Rising - received a note from Audrey Campbell. Audrey's known most of us through the last over-a-decade, through gallery openings and art car drive ins and cartooning jams and animation festivals.

Imagine what angelic patience THAT takes.

Speaking of angelic, she and her husband Scot "Extremo" Campbell came to the Rising, and these words are her gift to Erik.

NAMASTE
Namaste: "The light in me honours the light in you" in Sanskrit. Traditionally said as a greeting.
A friend of Scot’s passed away 6 weeks ago. I didn’t know him well. We met Erik through a friend at Scot’s first art show at the Basil Hallward Gallery in 2003. He really wanted to buy a painting called “Kathy Kitty Goes to Ice Cream City” but it had already been sold, so he commissioned a painting from Scot for his daughter Lyric.
We got to know Erik and his beautiful wife Nancy over the past few years, Scot more than I. We usually met up at a mutual friend’s birthday party, once a year. Erik was a very large Viking of a man with a booming voice and a boisterous manner. He was intelligent, quick witted and no doubt ADHD. Wherever he was, he was the event.

In March of this year he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer and passed away six weeks ago, he was 42. Saturday was his memorial. Erik was a very interesting and quirky person. During the memorial I could not tell apart his actual siblings from his friends. I had met Hans, his younger brother, and Andre, his sister, before but everyone who spoke seemed to be a brother of his. As it turned out this was the way Erik did life.
I learned many things about Erik on Saturday that I didn’t know before:
There were two kinds of people in Erik’s world, friends and strangers.
He fed and nurtured all his relationships.
You were never an acquaintance, you were a part of his life. If you came to visit and he was building a chicken coop, you were building it too.
He was the kid in high school that wore the yellow pants and thought they were cool.
He pushed people to be better and inspired them to be.
The things I did know about Erik were:
He loved to laugh and tell stories about anything and nothing and he had a story for everything.
He had an energy and life force that few could ignore or would want to.
Problems were insignificant, annoyances if even elevated to that level.
In his presence one felt safe.
Of course there were many stories told that day, lots of laughs and many more tears.
I have recently been going through a passage of growth and understanding, a milestone of life, realizing more clearly that all the frustrations in my life come from inside me and not from the people I assign my frustrations to! All the craziness in my life is from me? What? I am now realizing that, well, yes, it is.
I recently read a quote: “What’s best for me is already on it’s way.” I take that to mean that the Universe provides. Erik’s memorial brought me once again the understanding that I have got to live each day in joy and to take the time to enjoy the world and experience my life. Our time here together is too short and the people in my life are far more important than the lawn I am not cutting or the bill I am not paying. My life’s lessons are important too. I have recently seen very clearly that if I don’t learn my lesson in one place, it is not going to go away just because I go to another room. Wherever I go, there I am, and there is that damn lesson. Until I learn it, it will pop up over and over again. And it doesn’t have anything to do with anybody else… only me.
In the few days since Erik’s memorial I have walked in a sense of thankfulness and joy for all of my family, my closest friends and the people that I love. These are coincidentally the same people who love, cherish and fill me. I know the “overwhelmingness” of this feeling will fade in a few weeks or days but I really want to let you know that I count you as one of the special people in my life, “my family” and I want you to know that you are important to me. Even though I may not always say it or show it I love and cherish your life and friendship. Without you I would have missed the many experiences we have shared and my life would have been missing the richness you have brought me.
Namaste
"The light in me honors the light in you"

***

Audrey, our thanks for the light in you. -- Andree

Hi again everyone

(Andree here) For all of you - those who could make it and those who couldn't make it happen -- I want you to know that there are photos coming of Erik Rising. And all kinds of good stuff, I hear.

The Rising was well attended, the weather was perfection, and the togetherness was total. If you couldn't make it, we thought of you and spoke of you and felt gratitude in our hearts for the love you sent. And to every single one of you, thank you for standing with us that day, whether in Washougal or across the world.

I do have a little something for you that Lyric did.

See that? There's the official "RIP" marker down there, but he's dressed just like usual (Shoedogs, you will note the prominence of that sartorial feature), and two big smiling beings gently checking him out as he rises. And now the closeup:

Bye, Erik! Have a good trip! See you in a bit now!

erik rising: a special invitation from the family

The Value of Time.
Success of Perseverance.
Dignity of Simplicity.
Worth of Character.
Power of Kindness.
Influence of Example.
Obligation of Duty.
Wisdom of Economy.
Virtue of Practice.
Improvement of Talent.
-- Erik's quote for Purdom Footwear Design

The family of Erik Christian Purdom invites you to join us for “Erik Rising,” an afternoon of sharing tales tall and true, on Saturday September 27th 2008.

We’ll gather together at 1 PM at the Washburn Performing Arts Center, located at the auditorium of Washougal High School, 1201 39th St., Washougal WA 98671.

There will be an audiovisual presentation of Erik through the years, and time to speak of your own memories. Later we’d like you to join us at Erik and Nancy’s house for a private party; directions to house provided at event.

Map from Portland International Airport to the Washburn Performing Arts Center here.

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Coming in from out of town? Marriott SpringHill Suites Vancouver Columbia Tech Center is conveniently located 15 minutes from the house and easily reachable from Portland International Airport. Phone 360-260-1000. Click here.

You may also like these other hotels, located near the airport:
Embassy Suites Portland Airport, 503.460.3000 click here

Country Inn and Suites by Carlson, Portland Airport 888.201.1746 click here

Quality Inn and Suites Airport Convention Center 503.255.1404 click here

For luxury accommodations consider
Skamania Lodge, Skamania WA (1/2 hour east of Washougal in the scenic Columbia Gorge) 800.221.7117 http://www.skamania.com/

Heathman Lodge, Vancouver WA (Located in the center of not very scenic Vancouver, but it's of excellent quality) 888.475.3100 http://www.heathmanlodge.com/

Campsites will be available on Erik and Nancy’s property if you would like to bring your tent or RV.

Please RSVP at erikpurdomproject@hotmail.com or the message service at these phone numbers: 888.904.1221 (toll free) or 360.326.6494.

georgina wrote the nicest thing

(Andree here) Georgina Kramer is Nancy's mom and Erik's mother in law. I had no idea she had written anything into the Oregonian guestbook, and stumbled upon this yesterday:

Erik was taken from us far to soon,our hearts are broken with sadness. He influenced all of us by example, a man of character and kindness, wisdom beyond his years. A great designer was he. Our love for him will live on forever in memories. Words cannot express our loss of our wonderful Erik who we dearly miss. Deepest sympathy to all the Purdom family. We will keep you in our prayers.

Thank you, Georgina, for these lovely words and for everything you did for us.

sean thought you'd like this photo

(Andree here) I like this photo a lot too. It's E and Jaeger at Mogfest 2004.

September 27th, everybody: formal announcement by the end of the weekend.

sheri at swiss army

(Andree here) Hi everyone. Remember those lovely photos I posted a while ago, of good everyday things like boats and trucks and kids and fluffy dogs? Those were Sheri's.

Sheri, I hope you don't mind if I share your email with everyone, because you wrote so well of the sweetness of daily things with my brother along....

* * *
I can not find the words to express how very very sorry we are
but want you to know we thought a lot of Erik.
As you know he was very special to many persons.
He is greatly missed.
It is said time heals all wounds, I disagree. I believe time helps tolerate the wounds.
I am grateful for the time we were able to share with Erik and Nancy.
And have them as our friends.
I sold him his first Pinzgauer,
He and Sean came to Arkansas and drove it all the way back to California.
Erik was the only person I know who could eat more chocolate fudge than me.
Another visit to Ark. Erik Nancy and Lyric. We went to a restaurant for lunch
I never saw anyone order so much food. I thought maybe extra for snacks, or dinner
but I was wrong, there none left for snacks, and we all went out later for dinner.
We later were in Washington. It was a great pleasure to visit our valued friends and
to share vegetables from their beautiful garden Erik had built Nancy.
I never seen anything like it. It was like something you dream or would think to see on tv but not real.
I can imagine all the knowledge and skills he used to build all the ideas he used on the Pinzgauers,
shoes, home, furniture, garden, etc.
I do not think there was anything Erik could not do.
You have our deepest sympathy

Best regards
Sheri and Willy

letter from china

(Andree here) I can't resist sharing with you the note I received from Kevin Kang in Taiwan, who had written the following letter when he learned of E's illness, but didn't send it then. I understand. You'll all appreciate this heartfelt note.
* * *
Hey duo,

How are you doing?

It’s so many times I try to write you an email, but my fingers seemed out of my control. You know, you are the best guy I every met. It’s unbelievable that the greatest man I ever met is a foreigner! And he is such a big guy! Do you know how much I learn from you within working with you? I do like your attitude for life. Work hard, play hard! I still remember we had supper of spicy food in Dongquang. We ate 8 dishes hot and spicy food and had 7 bottles of beer. Of course, I only had one bottles. All people in that restaurant like you because you acted so nature, friendly and nice.

For the work, I will say we are something in common. We always try to dig out something new form some crazy idea but build an easy & no pressure surrounding. I will say if I could work for a boss like you, I would be happy; my wife Nikey would be very happy as well. I mentioned you a lot when we were chatting by phone. Erik, do you know what made me sad since I knew you? Most of people who knew me thought I am a nice guy, but you are better than me.

This is why I can’t accept this happened to you. I doubt the God existence. Take care yourself, man. I will cross my fingers and wish you luck.

Warm regards,

Kevin