Eric had a funeral and burial at sea.
His wife describes it perfectly.
... the sky was beautifully clear, the water perfectly blue, and the sun
was shining on us as your body was carried in a casket onto the boat. i
knelt down for a moment of prayer before we set sail at 8:30 with
david, the captain, his crew, and glenn,
the funeral director, and his partner, tony. the seagulls flew overhead
showing us the way while people waved at us. even the dolphins made an
appearance then went under to alert everyone in the ocean what was to
come. i sang that song to you over and over like a broken record until
we arrived at our destination one hour later. bells were rung and then a
changing of the guard ceremony before your body was gently lowered into
the ocean. i threw roses to mark the spot and then envisioned the fish
tugging at the strings of the shroud to free your body. i saw you
slowly, tentatively kick a few times to get rid of the stiffness before
diving deeper, faster than you'd ever done before, without oxygen, fins,
mask or wetsuit. there was a long parade of sealife trailing behind so
happy to welcome your body back.
To help remember Eric at the dive location he loved so much we have built him a TRACC reef. The Giant E memorial.
All round nice guy, we will miss you.