Eric James Procunier

It is with great sadness that I speak of the passing of Eric James Procunier. Eric was born in the East York Township on October 23rd, 1952 and grew up in a family of four. After high school he attended Sheridan Art School in Toronto, where he immediately discovered his affinity with glass. Picked out as a prodigy, Eric was selected to travel to New York City for advanced training and where he may well have become a top glass artist in North America. Instead in 1975, at the age of twenty-three he packed up, hopped a train with his dog and headed west. Eric got off in Salmon Arm, BC where he found his way to Armstrong and the Stage Caravan Company. There he discovered his skills as a horse whisperer and animal trainer. For the next six years Eric was part of the team, tending the Clydesdales, building and driving wagons, and travelling around the province with the Caravan’s stage shows. He told me that when the population grew to be six deep around the campfire it was time for him to move on.

After various jobs and locations Eric, a single dad by then, moved to the North Shuswap highlands where he and his dad purchased a beautiful farm. For the next thirty-five years Eric lived there happily with an ongoing menagerie of animals and vegetable gardens; blowing glass and eventually becoming a commercial grower of prime garlic. In 1995 his new partner, Deanna and her children came to join him, and they lived happily together there for three decades.

Eric was most assuredly a kind man, and in all aspects, he was a one-of-a-kind man. He was never swayed by public opinion, but what he did sway to was music, the blues in particular. He and Deanna regularly attended the Roots and Blues Festivals in Salmon Arm and throughout his years as a glass blower Eric would crank the tunes, his turning of molten glass into exquisite creations becoming a dance unto itself.

Sadly, Eric developed the dreaded Alzheimer’s disease and lived his last nine months at Hillside Village in Salmon Arm. The family is grateful for the care he received there. He was released from his suffering on November 10th, 2025, having just turned 73 years old.

Eric is survived by the love of his life, Deanna, his son Wesley (Laura) grandchildren Maeve, Ben and Harper, stepchildren, Natalia (mother of Lavinia) and Kyle, brother Mark (Pam) and family and sister Sue (Bruce) and family. Eric will be forever remembered and forever missed. A celebration of life will be held in the spring.