Eric Alexanderson

1940 - 2024

Eric Alexanderson
04/24/1940 - 12/07/2024
Eric Carl Alexanderson, 84, beloved husband of Linnea, beloved father of Christian and Jonathan and beloved father-in-law of Courtney died at home on December 7, 2024.
Born in Troutdale, Oregon, Eric came to California for college and never left. After his graduation from San Francisco State University he taught in San Francisco's public schools, which was work that he loved. In 1963, he bought an 1883 Eastlake Style Victorian house on Fair Oaks Street (at that time a deeply unfashionable address) and cared for it with love and pride for the rest of his life. He bought a six inch Elm tree in a container, put it in the ground, and hoped it would grow. Today, that tiny tree is over 100 feet tall and its spreading branches look down on our garden and make a leafy sanctuary for countless numbers of birds including Christian's favorite birds of prey and Eric's favorite's crows and ravens. Eric loved it when the crows and ravens scolded him every morning from their safe perches in the tree. Every Spring he planted new flowers, shrubs, and big hanging flower baskets. He made our garden a beautiful place and what pleased him most was that his tiny Elm tree did grow and thrive.
Eric's interest in Lionel toy trains, cars, and motorcycles began in his childhood and as our boys grew up, he was happy to share these hobbies with them. Through the years we have had an amazing assortment of vehicles beginning with a 1931 Buick, a 1950 Studebaker Starlight Commander Coupe, and a Datsun 280 Z. Then came the British cars, our favorites, which were taken care of expertly by Gerard Chateauvieux: an English Cream Morris Minor Convertible, a blue Morris Minor Light Commercial Pickup Truck, a Morris Minor Woody Station Wagon, an MG TD, an Austin Healy Mark III Convertible, an Austin Healy Bug Eye Sprite, a Morris Minor Magnette, a 2014 Morgan Three Wheeler (Paul Christensen loved riding in this one and Edy Senhauser with Christian co-piloting his black Ferrari 308 GTS loved being chased by Eric!) and a modified 1967 Jaguar E-Type Convertible with a 500 Horsepower Ford Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) Big-Block V8. (This was Ken Weeman's favorite.) Years ago I was shopping on 24th Street in Noe Valley at The Cheese Shop, when everyone in the store heard a car radio absolutely blasting the last movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony at a volume appropriate for a Rock Concert. We all left The Cheese Shop and went out to the sidewalk to investigate. People in the next block were laughing and clapping for the driver, who turned out to be Eric in his Morris Minor Convertible with the top down, driving and shifting with one hand and conducting the Beethoven with the other. He was grinning from ear to ear and just loving the sunny day, the music, and the people laughing and applauding him.
In late 2023 Linnea and Christian convinced Eric to buy a beautiful Infrared Lexus LC 500 Convertible. He died about a year later, but in the time he drove it, he got more pleasure from his "Big Red Baby" than many people do in a lifetime of driving. Christian is now at the wheel and loving every minute of it! He thinks of his father as a "Classical Gearhead" and Jonathan has wonderful memories of the many special rides he took with his father. I'm sure that most obituaries do not devote this amount of space to the mention of cars, but they were very important to him and I'm also certain that he would want you to know about them.
No account of Eric's life can be complete without a mention of his love for animals. Most people can show restraint and be content with one cat and/or one dog. We, however, were unable to do this and, fourteen years ago, found ourselves with a menagerie consisting of one lovely rescue cat, Heathcliff, a Welsh Corgi, Bernice, a petite and perfectly behaved PitBull Terrier, and Bart, a very large and very determined Black and Tan Coonhound, who came from Louisiana as a Hurricane Katrina rescue. Bart's favorite party trick was to hunker down and wait for the chance to snatch almost an entire wheel of Brie Cheese from the coffee table, and gobble it down in a nanosecond. I loved them all, but felt strongly that we did not need any more animals. However, Jonathan and Eric met a PitBull - Rottweiler mix one day. The dog jumped all over Eric and it was love at first sight! They were crazy for each other. So Petunia joined the family and I have never seen a bond as deep between a human and a dog. Petunia accepted the rest of us nicely, but she adored Eric and they were inseparable. What a sweet pair they were. It did occur to me that the Corgi, the cat, the PitBull Terrier and the Coonhound just might have some attitude adjustment issues with the new PitBull mix moving in. There was no need to worry, however, because Bart, the Coonhound, thought it over and decided that he was the Alpha Dog, and from then on he ruled his Peaceable Kingdom very gently.
Eric grew up in Oregon as an only child living with his grandmother. They loved each other dearly, but Eric would have loved a brother or sister. On first day of first grade he met Mike Vawter, who has been his lifelong friend. Eric looked up to Mike because he took his schoolwork seriously, while Eric was heavily invested in being the class clown. Eric felt that one of the happiest things that ever happened to him was becoming an honorary member of the Vawter family. Mike's mother, Verdella, always set a place at the table for Eric, and made sure he knew that he was welcome to drop in at any time. Mike's baby sister, Julie, was thirteen years younger than Eric and Mike. He thought Julie was cute, but he and Mike were busy with boy stuff, so Eric just patted her on the head and said, "Hi, Kid!" Julie grew up and married Michael Ferguson and the Fergusons and Alexandersons and Mike and Bonnie Vawter have been steadfast friends. Both Michael's and Eric have always had a special rapport and have been as close as brothers could ever be. David Kniefel is another special friend from high school days. He has a quiet dignity and strength and knows how to be a true friend. He is the first to offer help for anything and everything. Eric and his partner, Pat Speer, have built many homes near Portland in the last thirteen years and this has been the perfect partnership. They were partners and they were also friends.
Eric and his best friend, Mike Scafani, sailed the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean for many years in their Columbia 29 Sailboat. Later on, it became their floating clubhouse, in which massive amounts of donuts and coffee were consumed, followed by cigars and, sometimes, a wee dram of Single Malt Scotch. Many good times were had through the years on the "Mariah."
Years ago our friend Dave Sage called to invite Eric to join the Family Club as the director of the Chorus, The Songbirds. He was happy to do this as long as he had a dependable and steady accompanist, who turned out to be our son Christian. His years in the Family Club were very special to him, and gave him chances to conduct, to use his acting skills, and to sing for a great audience. One Saturday he came home from the Family Farm as happy as I had ever seen him because that afternoon he and our friend Sig Seigel had sung the beautiful duet from the opera "The Pearl Fishers" with the Family Orchestra. Eric's description: "That was one of the best experiences in my whole life. The orchestra sounded fantastic and that duet is so beautiful to sing and the audience loved it! God, what a great day!" Eric organized the Off-Tuesday Family Quartet with Christian accompanying. Through the years the singers have included Tony Lum, Dan Odum, Joe Gold, Ken Weeman, Bill Figge, Sig Seigel, Steve Zimmerman and Nathan Cottam. Nathan and Eric were kindred spirits, practically finishing each other's sentences. We call him our third son and have a lovely friendship with him and his wife Traci and now their sweet baby daughter named Linnea.
Our good friend and Family member Eric Maddox was Eric's accompanist and he came to our house every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. to rehearse. After Petunia had finished jumping all over him (he was one of her favorite visitors) both Erics headed for the piano. Many times a song was interrupted by one of them, which led to laughter and/or serious conversation. I enjoyed that hour on Wednesdays as much as they did.
I want to mention all Eric's friends in the Family Club, but this obituary will be fifty pages if I do so. I would like to thank Peter Verbica for his kind assistance to us in making the arrangements for Eric's Celebration of Life Service.
In his work life, Eric found a group of extraordinary people who are skilled at their jobs and completely dependable and he loved them all. Edgar Roblero and Eric respected each other and had a deep friendship. Thomas Chen is a master carpenter and a fine person. Gilberto Ramirez, Miguel Sanchez, Edwin Hernandez, Carlos Tablas, Jim Doran, a master painter, now retired Owner of Heise's Plumbing, Dave Costello, Pearl Painting owner "Quinzy" Brenden Meere, Cherin's Appliance owner Marty Cherin and locksmith Bill Del Rio round out the group, all of whom have transferred their allegiance from Eric to Christian when he took over the family business. Eric knew that he could always depend on Raul Avila, Jeff Salgado, Brad Lagomarsino, Peter Kelsch and his special friend Deborah Niemann for sound business advice. Veresa Ann Rachapaetayakom is our office administrator and probably the best employee one could ever have. She keeps the ship afloat. In Portland, Eric relied on Lee and Terri Hollins for their amazing management skills, on Ron Foerster for creating beautiful landscapes, and Leslie Dirk for sound real estate advice. Most of all, the Alexanderson family would like to thank Ty Bash for his invaluable help, friendship, advice and wisdom.
Eric was deeply devoted to Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church, which has been my family's church since I was five years old. He directed and sang in the choir for many years. He looked forward to Sunday mornings at church: for the beauty and serenity of the sanctuary, for the wonderful sermons of Tim Lane-Bortell, our minister, for the hymns and anthems we loved to sing, and for time spent with people he loved.
Eric was the most tender and loving of fathers to Christian and Jonathan from the day they were born, and loving husband to me through all the fifty-four years of our marriage and we were good for each other, even if both of us were strong-willed and stubborn Swedes. Eric's sweet nature was beyond compare and our friend Tara Morgan said of him, "Eric's joy for life was contagious and his spirit could fill a room."
Shortly before he died Eric sang for two audiences, the "American Anthem" from Ken Burns' film "The War". It is a lovely piece and some of the lyrics could have been written just for Eric.
"Let them say of them I was one who believed in sharing the blessings I received. Let me know in my heart when my days are through, I gave my best to you."
A celebration of Eric's life will be held on Saturday, May 24th, at 2:00 p.m. at The Family Club, followed by a reception. The Family Club is located at 545 Powell Street, San Francisco, CA 94108 at the corner of Powell and Bush Streets. Please enter the building on the Bush street side. Public parking garages are located nearby including the Sutter/Stockton Garage.
If you would like to honor Eric with a donation, the following were near and dear to his heart. Mannakin Theater and Dance: https://mannakindance.org/support/ Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church: lincolnparkchurch@sonic.net