We are heartbroken to announce the death of Eric Vincent Gallant on May 13th in Calgary, Alberta.

Eric was a loving and gentle big-hearted man with a dry sense of humour, always curious and inventive, ready to try his hand at fixing anything, especially cars. He grew up in Amherst, Nova Scotia, and spent his summers in North Rustico, PEI. He made lifelong friendships with his cousins there and his pals in Amherst through joining Militia.

Eric went to trade school and got his ticket to be an electrician at the same school where his father Isidore taught electrical construction.

Like many young Easterners, Eric went West in 1974 working in construction in Vancouver, Fort McMurray, and then to Calgary where there were lots of jobs in the building trades. His sense of adventure even took him around the world with his work at one point.

He met his wife Fran, the love of his life, through PEI family connections. They settled in Calgary while maintaining strong ties to family in PEI.

Eric's main career was with the University of Calgary as a technician who designed and built models for seismic research with the oil and gas industry, where he got to use his many and varied skillsets. He loved his work and would talk your ear off about it any time you wanted to listen. He kept working on cars throughout his life. Not only was he a wiz at fixing them, he sometimes enjoyed smashing them up as a competitor in a few demolition derbies.

He loved music, was passionate about blues music especially, and had eclectic tastes with his radio always tuned to independent radio station CKUA.

Eric's most recent passion was his 1970 Pontiac that he was actively restoring. This spring he enjoyed nothing better than to go out with his buddies "for a burn" on the local country roads.

In his later life, Eric was a collector, of sorts, with the ability to see the potential in every used bolt, wrench, chunk of metal, and used car part.

Eric was a loving father to Michael (Melanie) and Meaghan (Nelson); and husband to Fran. He was a cherished Grampa to Zachary and Maxime, Aubrey and Estelle. He is also survived by his sisters Suzanne Gallant Mason (Jerry) and Johanne Gallant Spicer (Finlay); niece Anna MacNeil; and nephew James MacNeil; and predeceased by his parents Geraldine and Isidore Gallant; and his nephew Denis MacNeil.

There will be celebrations to honour Eric's life when it is safe for us to gather. Donations in his memory can be made to The Canadian Cancer Society or CKUA radio station .

In his last weeks at home with the family, his two-year-old granddaughters Aubrey and Estelle were always pointing out the moon to him in the daytime sky as he sat with them in the backyard. They have now been told that Grandpa has gone to live on the moon. It's comforting for us to think of him still with us in spirit, possibly hanging out on the moon.

We invite you all to share a story, memory or photo of Eric on the Tribute Wall.

Canadian Cancer Society
200 - 325 Manning Road NE, Calgary AB T2E 2P5
Tel: 1-800-661-2262
Web: http://www.cancer.ca/en/?region=ab

CKUA Radio
851 4 Street SE, Calgary AB T2G 1P2
Web: https://ckua.com/