When 43-year-old Eric Sauser passed away from leukemia, his newly widowed partner Crystal was left with the task of writing her late husband’s obituary- something which can seem overwhelming even at the best of times. Eric was only 43 when he slipped away, leaving behind three children Amelia, 11, Violet, 9, and Benjamin, 5.
But despite this heartbreaking turn of events, Crystal wanted to capture her late husband’s legacy in a fun and informal way- as that was the kind of person he was.
Posted by Crystal Sauser on Friday, 19 May 2017
Crystal’s witty, lighthearted yet moving obituary was shared in the local paper in Nebraska, but it soon began circulating on Twitter where it received a lot of attention.
When I recommend stuff, I usually highlight stories written by @OWHnews reporters. But this obituary deserves a read. Godspeed, Eric pic.twitter.com/5JSThgsHSu
— Bob Glissmann (@BobGlissmann) February 28, 2021
Before long, the tweet had received thousands of likes and had been retweeted by hundreds, leaving the doting dad more famous than Crystal ever would have imagined!
“I think his face is so red,” Crystal told Good Morning America of what Eric would think about the attention. “He’s completely embarrassed by me saying things [in the obituary] like, ‘He’s dead sexy,’ but he would be so happy that he wasn’t cookie cutter.”
Posted by Crystal Sauser on Friday, 19 May 2017
Crystal, who was married to Eric for 13 years, said that Eric had first noticed something was wrong when he got winded after carrying their daughter up the stairs. Then he started to experience night sweats.
A short time later, tests revealed that he had leukemia.
“We were shocked,” Crystal said. “Eric said nothing but, ‘Oh well, it’s fine. We are going to just deal with this.’ So, that was our mantra and that’s what we followed.”
“He and I are absolutely complete opposites, but the way we managed this was as a team,” she added. “We went in with open eyes and said, ‘We are going to do what we have to do to fight this.'”
Posted by Crystal Sauser on Sunday, 18 August 2013
Like many cancer patients, Eric began the grueling treatment to hopefully rid his body of the disease. During the space of a year, he underwent a stem cell transplant and experimental therapy as well as several other treatments.
The cancer reappeared in April 2020.
“At that point Eric said, ‘Enough is enough. I’m putting you guys through way too much,'” Crystal said. “But through the entire journey, Eric was such an amazing guy. He always had a smile on his face … he was more worried what was going on with everyone else than him.”
Posted by Crystal Sauser on Friday, December 22, 2017
After Eric’s passing, Crystal visited a mortuary to view some obituary templates, but she said none of them fitted Eric’s style. She wanted to capture who he was as a person, so she decided to write it for herself.
Posted by Crystal Sauser on Saturday, 30 June 2018
Although she is heart broken over her husband’s death, Crystal is adamant that the family don’t need sympathy- as that’s not what Eric would have wanted.
“I’m sad because I have a broken heart, but I’m not sad because we didn’t win our journey,” she said. “Eric never wanted pity … we kind of maintained that in writing the obituary.”
We think she did a great job of portraying her late husband’s personality. We feel like we really got to know who he was as a person through reading his obituary.
You can read his full obituary below:
“Eric A. Sauser, AKA Super Dad, AKA Easy, just a rockin’ dude from Omaha, NE passed away peacefully in his sleep on Friday, February 26, 2021, at the age of 43 with his wife by his side. His departure was just in time for him to make his spiritual appearance at every Red Sox spring game. Eric is survived by his wife, Crystal and three children, Amelia, Violet and Benjamin all of whom will likely sleep in the same bed for many years to come (sorry, Eric). He is also survived by his loving and caring parents, Ronnie and Paula Sauser, and his sister and aunt extraordinaire, Jessica Sauser. In addition to his immediate family, Eric leaves behind an incredible extended family and many, many friends. He is preceded in death by billions, including his dog Harvey who most of us loved to hate. We are confident they are joyfully reconnecting right now. If you knew Eric, you knew you were loved, and there is a good chance he told you that – probably sober, but maybe not. During his time here, he found a way into everyone’s heart. Eric loved, in this order, his smoking hot wife, his brilliant kids and family, his many friends, the Boston Red Sox, the Kansas City Chiefs (before being a Chiefs fan was cool), the Huskers, Liverpool Futbol, QT iced tea, Adidas sneakers, fishing, backpacking, hiking, hunting, and any old Chevy he saw on the road. Eric hated sad stories, beets, romantic comedies, a snow packed driveway and turning off the garage light. That’s it. Eric was content with most everything else. We are not positive, but we think the cause of death was either leukemia or more likely being “dead sexy”. Eric, we’ve always loved you and miss you already.”
Best wishes to the Sauser family during this difficult time.
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