Eric Anton Derugen, Prospect, Ohio
Born in Erie, PA to the late Samuel J. Derugen and the late Dorothy P. Hanks Rondeau Derugen Collins, Eric went home on December 30, 2017.
He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Lee Ann (Burley) Derugen; Brother: Samuel (Patty) Derugen of Woodward, PA; Sisters: Paula (Joe) Bosanac of Ontario, Canada and Pamela Derugen, Marion. Nephews and Nieces: Billy (Cathy) Derugen, NC; Samuel (Krissy) Derugen, PA; Tom (Stephanie) Derugen, OH; Eric (Nicky) Derugen, PA; Steve (Elin) Bosanac, Canada; Tony Bosanac (Dasha Novikova), TX; Chandra Bosanac, Texas. Great nephews and nieces: Nathan, NC; Machaela, Dalton, PA; Corey, Zack, Katie, OH; Seth and Kyle, PA. He dearly loved their Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Sunny, or Baby Girl as they affectionately called her.
He also will be missed by the guys from the neighborhood and his new friends he met at AA and NA this past year who helped him to achieve his one year of sobriety on December 30th, the day he died.
He married Lee Ann Burley on November 16, 1974 in the Green Camp Methodist Church, Green Camp, Ohio.
Eric was always a hard worker. He worked as a teenager after his parents’ divorce either pumping gas until the wee hours of the morning or shoveling manure for local farmers and then go back to school the next morning. After graduation from Wynford High School in 1969, he started the next day working for North Electric Co. in Galion and then as a draftsman in research and development at Huber Manufacturing in Marion until they closed. He built and tested the prototype machinery at Huber. Eric was a skilled finish carpenter working for Marvin Ringle and Hank Bell Construction Companies and later started his own business. He was a perfectionist when it came to woodworking and always had to make a perfect mitered corner. If he went into a friends’ house which may have just been built, you would see him feeling the corners of the woodwork to see how good a job the builder had done.
He worked at Peabody, Mt Vernon; Sycon and Na-Churs Plant Food in Marion. In later years, after he built their dream home on the Burley Farm on Rt 203 in 1999, he worked steadily for his father in law, Bill Burley Jr on the farm. He loved the outdoors so planting and harvesting the crop made him very happy. This part time job worked well with his other part time job of being an entrepreneur. He retired from farming in 2005 but still helped out on the farm. He loved to travel Ohio and beyond its borders to find a good deal that he then could sell for a profit. Eric’s hobbies were fishing in the early years with his step father, Rudy Collins; hunting with his brother, nephews, great nieces and nephews every hunting season and finding a good buy. His nephew Tom and his son Corey, who are the family living in Ohio, were especially helpful and caring to Eric and Lee Ann. They were always there for them through his treatment for cancer, her surgeries the same year and anytime he needed help doing something on the farm or around the house.
He was a member of the First United Church of Christ, Marion since 1999. He enjoyed helping others by assisting with setup and clean up for the funeral dinners in the fellowship hall, doing some handyman work like painting the church sign, and putting up a basketball hoop in the church parking lot for the neighborhood kids. He really made lifelong friends by helping the older ladies of the church with fixing things around their home or taking them out to dinner at a new restaurant. Eric was in remission for 4 years from Small Cell Lung Cancer prior to having a severe stroke.
A Celebration of Life service will be with the First United Church of Christ currently meeting and located within the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 930 Harding Memorial Pkwy, Marion on Saturday, January 6, 2018 at 11:00 am with Pastor Gale Green, First UCC officiating. Friends and Family may visit on Friday, January 5, 2018 from 4:00-7:00 pm at the Snyder Funeral Homes, Denzer Chapel, 360 East Center St, Marion. Burial will be at the Green Camp Cemetery at a later date.
Eric had asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be given to the American Cancer Society or the Marion Humane Society.
Snyder Funeral Homes of Marion are honored to serve Eric’s family and your thoughts may be shared with them via www.SnyderFuneralHomes.com.
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