Many of Sahuaro’s faculty will remember Eileen Erickson, a former English teacher here at Sahuaro High School, who also happened to be my grandmother. Mrs. Erickson was incredibly well-loved by all of her students, leaving a giant impact for the 4 years she taught here before she retired, plus the few extra years she taught part-time.

Eileen loved her job, but she also loved to hang out with her family. She and her husband Chuck loved to have their granddaughter, Wynter (that’s me!), around. They would take her on fun adventures, to places like Bisbee and Duluth, Minnesota. Eileen enjoyed camping with her 2 best buddies and the critters, Luna, Yukie, and Waltie. They would also go on summer trips every year to do community service and other things for a few months.

When she wasn’t out adventuring, she was in her art studio, painting pictures and making collage art, all the fun things – she could do it all – she even taught me a few things such as drawing, water coloring, and painting on water. Of course, she loved to read.  She would write grants to increase her library collection, obtaining class sets of books that she thought her students would prefer to read and make them love books as much as she did.   She liked to spend time outside walking the dogs, riding her bike, and spoiling the heck out of her granddaughter. She would cook yummy meals filled with veggies and sometimes fish because she and her husband were pescatarian, meaning they only ate fish, no other kinds of meat.

In 1991,  my grandmother and her husband adopted their first son Zachary Angelo Erickson, who was born July 17, 1990, in Ithaca, New York.  Then again in 1992, they adopted their daughter Willa Marie Erickson, who was born on March 28, 1992, in Indianapolis Indiana.

Eileen was born in February 1954 but sadly passed away one year ago, in October of 2022, due to pancreatic cancer. She was a fighter and didn’t let anything stop her from doing what she loved.  Though cancer beat her, her spirit will always remain with those who truly loved her – students, friends, and family – they will all miss her. “Eileen sought out equality for everyone, she was a great activist for justice in her daily life. She was a beautiful soul who always had hope for things to work out, I loved her and lost a good friend, I hoped we could spend more time together,” Kathy Nye, one of her best friends, said.

“Eileen was a wonderful teacher and simply an amazing person who lived each day to make a positive difference in the world. I miss her!” said Mrs. Watters of her fellow English teacher and friend.  Guidance Counselor, Tracey Echols, stated, “Whenever I saw Eileen, she always had such a great smile!  I always picked to present in her class when the counselors would come in and we’d chat about how the school year was going.  She loved to show me previous years work of her best students and I know how much she truly loved to teach.”  Even though she passed, she continued doing what she loved, which was teaching kids. That is why she donated her body to the medical school of the University of Arizona. My grandfather said, “She kept right on teaching just like she loved to do.”