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3.20.2003
Eric Hyer, 32; he kept family, friends united
Eric Hyer's hair was just growing back in. Friends said he'd recently
cut off his long ponytail and shipped it to a charity group that uses
donated hair to make wigs for children with cancer.
"It's just the kind of guy he was," says Brian Allsworth, a
friend of Eric's since the two met in 1988 as sophomores at Scituate High
School. "He did it and didn't make a big deal out of it."
Eric, 32, seems to have passed through many people's lives as a quiet,
generous man. He was a mellow guy who got along easily with everyone,
but who had no problem doing things alone.
"Sometimes he would just go out by himself," Allsworth says.
"As far as I know, he went to the Great White concert by himself.
He was just following a different drummer all the time."
Eric had a knack for being the channel through which relatives and old
friends kept in touch.
In November, Allsworth said, Eric called a bunch of high school friends
and got them to meet up in Warwick for a few games of pool. Chris Arruda,
another victim of The Station fire, was one of the guys who showed up
that night. This was typical behavior, Allsworth said; Eric just liked
getting people together.
The youngest of five brothers, Eric led a simple life. He loved cookouts,
fishing and family gatherings. He also loved kids, and could spend hours
hanging out with his nieces and nephews.
"He would do anything with anybody and have fun doing it,"
says his brother Mark Hyer. Mark described Eric as the one who kept his
four older brothers talking. He remembered birthdays and anniversaries,
and he always called, just to check in.
"Once you met him, it was like everyone was part of his family,"
Mark Hyer said. "He brought a little bit of love and life to everybody."
Eric even managed to get Mark and their father talking again after 12
years of silence.
At Mark's home in Coventry, Eric's belongings are now in boxes, many
of them full of reasons why Eric went to The Station to see the band Great
White play.
"There's like seven boxes of CDs," Mark said. "He loved
music, all kinds."
Eric lived in Coventry with Mark and his wife, Colleen, and their children,
Mark Jr., 12, and Jake, 5, for several months when he moved back to Rhode
Island last summer. Before that, Eric had lived in Texas for about eight
years. He had recently moved in with relatives in Scituate.
Eric was especially close to his nephew Mark Jr. Most Sundays, the two
went to Best Buy together, or to Boston Market for roast beef sandwiches.
Sometimes, they would even fight like brothers.
"But that's just because we were so close," young Mark said.
In fact, he added, grinning, "he called me the best nephew."
"You were all the best nephews," Mark Sr. said.
-- Neil Shea
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