Erik Gordon Harris Meade

Erik G H Meade has passed away after a brief illness at age 56, in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
Erik was born in Iowa City, Iowa, to James and Diana. As an Army family member, Erik lived in Ft. Benning, GA, Schofield Barracks and Wahiawa, HI and Waynesboro, MO. Back in the civilian world, the family moved to Charlottesville, VA and then Ames, IA. When their parents divorced, Erik lived with their mother in Oelwein, IA and then with their father back in the Army stationed in Munich, Germany. Erik returned to the states with their dad and finished high school in Creve Coeur, MO.
After graduation Erik joined the U.S. Army and met and married their first wife, Yvette. Their daughter Dawne was born later that year. Erik was assigned to Germany as part of the 3rd Armored Division until in 1991 they were deployed to Kuwait. Erik was honorably discharged from the Army in 1993 with the rank of SPC. During their service they were awarded the following: Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal w/4 Oak Leaf Clusters, and National Defense Service Medal; amongst others. Following their discharge they returned to Kentucky to their wife and daughter.
After their divorce, Erik moved to St. Louis and attended the University of Missouri – St Louis where they were awarded several awards for being an outstanding mentor. They graduated Cum Laude from UMSL with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, began working as a Java programmer and coach, and founded an award winning website (www.JUnit.org).
While visiting a friend in Minneapolis they met and fell in love with their second wife, Jackie, and her cat Sugar. Over the next 5 years they lived in St Louis, San Francisco and Chicago while Erik was a mentor, coach and elite Java programmer both in the US and abroad. While living in San Francisco the two learned to skipper sailboats. They even brought their cat, Sugar, on the boat with them on one occasion. When they visited Hawai'I on vacation, Erik joined Jackie in her love of scuba diving and got their PADI scuba certification.
After moving to San Diego, Erik started their own consulting firm, EGHM, Inc working nationally and internationally. In their spare time during their 10 years in San Diego, Erik worked in a leading role on a popular video game mod for Homeworld 2, "Battlestar Galactica: Fleet Commander". In 2012 Erik was recognized for their excellence in both Java and Agile programming by Agile San Diego with the Agilist of the Year award. Erik also volunteered at the Maritime Museum of San Diego, working on the following historic tall ships: the Star of India, the Californian and the HMS Surprise.
Hawai'I called and they made the decision to move to Oahu after losing their cat, Sugar. While they lived in Kailua they snorkeled daily and even managed to see a rare Hawksbill Sea Turtle. When they later moved to Honolulu, Erik began working at the University of Hawai'I Manoa as a Web Developer, where they enjoyed learning to play ping pong and won the award for funniest costume for their depiction of Bob Ross. While fostering kittens for the Humane Society, Erik fell in love with one of the kittens, Louise, and they adopted her.
While working at UH Manoa, Erik enrolled in the William S Richardson School of Law as part of the part-time/evening program. While in law school Erik advocated for Native Hawaiian rights and environmental justice. Erik was active with SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice), several local environmental organizations and the NLG (National Lawyers Guild) which acted as legal observers during the BLM protests as well as the Mauna Kea protests, which both Erik and Jackie attended.
After the 2021 Red Hill Fuel Leak, Erik regularly gave testimony in support of the defueling of the leaking tanks at the public hearings. Erik also wrote their research paper on the negative health and environmental implications of depleted uranium in military weaponry.
In 2023 Erik was a part of a team of law students in association with the Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law involved in reclaiming water rights for the Maui Komohana community shortly before the fires in Lahaina. They were a vocal participant in the following public hearings against the reassignment of the first deputy of the Commission on Water Resource Management.
In 2018 Erik Received the CALI Award – Space Law: The New Frontier. In 2020, Erik also interned at the DLNR – Division of Aquatic Resources performing legal research for the 30 x 30 Program to protect near shore waters.
Erik received his Juris Doctor in 2023 at the age of 54. While they had not yet had time to take the bar exam they looked forward to using their degree for the good of the Native Hawaiian community as well as the environment.
Erik was known within the University of Hawai'I Manoa community and will be greatly missed by their former classmates, coworkers, friends and family.
They are survived by their wife, Jackie, daughter, Dawne (Antonio), granddaughter, Ariana, father, James, step mother, Hanne, sister, Lori and half sisters, Julia (Alex), Alena (Alex), and Sonia. They were preceded in death by their grand parents, and mother, Diana.
A Private Celebration of Life will be held; friends, colleagues and classmates who would like to pay their respects may contact erikmeadelifecelebration@gmail.com
for details.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to "Help Erik Meade's Widow with End of Life Costs" https://gofund.me/aca7b86a