Eric Fitzherbert Liot Backer

Eric Fitzherbert Liot Backer Gunnison, CO Eric F. L. Backer died on January 23, 2015, in Gunnison, Colorado. He was 101 years old. Eric was born in 1913 in Georgetown, British Guiana, then a British colony in South America, now the independent country of Guyana. As a young man, he distinguished himself at Queen's College in Georgetown, where he was one of three students in the country to win full academic merit scholarships, and was a superb athlete. When World War II began, Eric Backer enlisted in the British Army where he served as captain in the Royal Armored Corps for six years, notably participating in the Battle of El-Alamein, where he oversaw the Kenya Regiment, and in the Burmese campaign. After two marriages which gave him a son, Robert, and a daughter, Karen, Eric met the love of his life, Dorothy, on a transatlantic Queen Mary crossing, and they were married in Kampala, Uganda in 1952. Eric became an American citizen, and they had a daughter, Anna. Thereafter they lived in London, Paris, New York City, upstate New York, West Africa, Iraq, Pakistan, Iran, Moldova, Greece, and Colombia, and traveled all over Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and India. During his long career in international logistics, Backer managed the finances for large construction projects in many countries. He was also treasurer for the American Field Service, an international student exchange program in New York City. He created and managed the University of Guyana Appeal Fund, and an international business institute in Moldova to train CPAs, where he taught Moldovan students and helped them to travel to American universities. Eric loved living with people around the world, really getting to know them, spending months and years e beaten path, and he worked to promote peace, trade, and international understanding. Eric and Dorothy retired to Williamsburg, Massachusetts, in 1985, where they were involved in the community, the Williamsburg Library, and the Council on Aging. After retirement, Eric served overseas as a volunteer executive and, jointly with Dorothy, won the prestigious Pace Award from President Clinton, for Most Outstanding International Volunteer. Their travels continued, taking them to Italy, France, Moldova, Turkey, Brazil, and Colorado, but they always fondly returned to Williamsburg. Eric died peacefully, three years after his wife of 60 years, Dorothy, died on Valentine's Day, 2012. Eric's ashes will be deposited with Dorothy's, at a memorial gathering to be held in Williamsburg, in the summer of 2015. He leaves behind a large family and many friends, who will never forget E.F.L.B. We will love him always.