Eric V. Lessard

Eric Vincent Lessard died October 10, 2023 after living with Lyme disease for nineteen years. Eric was born January 9, 1970 in Montreal, Canada to Elizabeth and Jean-Claude Lessard. He grew up in Ann Arbor, MI, Durham NC, Jacksonville and Gainesville, FL, graduating from Gainesville's Eastside High School in 1987. An alumnus of Reed College, he worked as an organizer for the International Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union in Los Angeles for several years before joining John Brown and Associates, a criminal defense private investigation firm. He worked around the US and internationally, including Mexico and China, exposing the skullduggery of government agencies, and spent years working for defendants in a prison riot case. Eric pursued adventure, whether it was exploring jungle ruins in Central America, jumping freight cars in the northwest and Mexico, or snowboarding in the California mountains. He returned to Gainesville in 2016 and continued investigative work for lawyers until he became too ill. He tirelessly researched Lyme treatments, but was unable to find a cure, remaining stoic and brave through many setbacks. He was proud to achieve Master Mason status in the Gainesville lodge, and joined the Morocco Temple of the Shriners in Jacksonville. Eric is survived by his parents, Elizabeth McCulloch and Joe Jackson of Gainesville, his father Jean-Claude Lessard of Lethbridge, Canada, stepsisters Arianah Jennings and Leah Newsom, seven cousins, and two aunts, as well as many friends in Los Angeles, Gainesville and around the world.