Eric David Maxwell, 58, passed away peacefully on November 14, 2022, surrounded by his family. He joined his beloved parents, George and Kit, in eternal rest.
Eric was born on June 19, 1964, in Monroe, Michigan—the third of what would be five sons of George and Kit Maxwell. Eric attended St. Mary's Parish and Grade School and graduated from Monroe Catholic Central High School in 1982 where he played football, wrestled and was a member of the National Honor Society.
After graduation he followed his older brother, Todd, to Central Michigan University. Science and biology were his intended path—but the business school, particularly accounting, lured him in. He graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, majoring in accounting.
Shortly after graduation, he left his small town for Chicago when he accepted an auditing position with Liberty Mutual Insurance. He loved the short walk to Lake Michigan, the easy access to great museums, stadiums, restaurants and bars, and having family and friends come to town and visit. He left Chicago a few years later when a promotion brought him home to Michigan and family.
Eric eventually switched careers to follow his passion: investing in the stock market. In 1996 he began working at Dean Witter in Birmingham, Michigan, and would later join the existing team of Carl, Mindy, Lindsay and Eve. Although the firm and firm names would change, the team continued to work together for years. Eric was involved in market research, developing asset allocation and financial planning, but his favorite part of his job was the one-on-one meetings with clients and helping them map out their retirement dreams.
While he never married or had kids of his own, Eric's life was full of family. His brothers Todd, Mark, Kevin and Ryan, sister-in-law Nancy and nieces Colleen, Kelsey, Kylie, Kendall and Reese provided him immense amounts of joy. Whether it was boat rides and time together at their family cottage, holiday and birthday celebrations or vacations with his nieces—there was never a shortage of a good time. Some of his favorite memories were the gatherings with both sides of his family; get-togethers filled with cousins, aunts and uncles. Eric spent as much time as he could up north in Lake City, where there are five family cottages (and others that belong to friends) on Lake Missaukee. Eric's love of boating was inspired by his time spent watching his uncle Fred restore boats over the years.
In addition to his blood relatives, Eric created family of the friends he met and cared for along the way:
• Carl and Mindy Crimmins and Lindsay Luxon were the closest thing Eric had to family without being related. The crew worked side-by-side for eight hours a day, five days a week for more than 20 years. They spent countless hours outside work celebrating the good times and helping each other through the hard times. Eric was beyond grateful for them.
• His sailing family was the Fortunes: Shirley, the late Peter, Perrin, Libby, Caitlyn, Jason and Maxwell. For more than 20 years, most Saturdays were spent racing their family boat, Air Force, out of Bayview Yacht Club in Detroit.
• An invite to the Kentucky Derby 20 years ago established Eric's horse-racing family: John M., John C., Bill, Tim, James, the Buckman Brothers and the Hess crew. Although the gatherings were only a few times a year, they were like family reunions (full of fun and great memories).
• Eric also leaves behind long-time friends, Frank and Amy, who provided years of dinners and laughs for their single friend.
Eric spent what little free time he had giving back: volunteering with and donating to his favorite non-profits. He spent many years working with Reaching Higher and Sweet Dreamzzz, Inc., which both focused on helping children. More recently, Eric dedicated his time to The Leelanau Conservancy and Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes, both focused on environmental restoration and conservancy.
Eric's family and friends would like to thank the 8th floor Oncology Unit at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, and the staff at Angela Hospice Home Care in Livonia for their kindness, care and support over the last two months.
Eric is survived by his brothers, Todd (Nancy), Mark, Kevin and Ryan and nieces Colleen, Kelsey, Kylie, Kendall and Reese, as well as numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.
Eric was preceded in death by his parents, George and Kit, and his grandparents, George and Almyra Maxwell and Fred and Kay Lemerand.
He will be dearly missed.
Family and friends may visit from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20th at Bacarella Funeral Home. Eric will lie in state at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Mary Catholic Church. Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated at 11 a.m. by the church pastor, Rev. Fr. David Burgard. Cremation will follow in accordance with Eric's wishes with burial at St. Joseph Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests supporting St. Mary Catholic Church, SMCC High School, or Reaching Higher, a character building youth leadership program (508 E. Grand River Ave., Brighton, MI 48116 or reachinghigherinc.org).
Online condolences and special memories may be shared with the family by visiting the obituary page at www.bacarellafuneralhome.com .