Eric L. Miyashiro
Jun 5, 1957 -
Feb 8, 2023
Eric L. Miyashiro, age 65, passed away at home in Anchorage, Alaska, on Feb. 8, 2023, after a year long battle with cancer. He was born in Anchorage on June 5, 1957, to Sekichi "Stanley" Miyashiro of Hilo, Hawaii, and Betty A. Gowers of Springfield, Mo. He was the second of four children. Growing up in Anchorage during the late 1950s, the road to the Miyashiro family home in Rodgers Park subdivision was a two lane gravel road and east to the Chugach foothills was wide open wilderness. Eric witnessed, firsthand, the 1964 earthquake and the changes to Anchorage in the aftermath from recovery to rebuilding. And in his profession, as a civil engineer, he would greatly contribute to the development of Anchorage into a major city whose population would double by the oil boom days in the 1970s.
He was an adventurous kid who practiced judo, fished and hunted with his dad and rode snowmachines. As an industrious teenager, he always worked and, by age 16, owned a motorcycle and, by 17, a car. He graduated from Bartlett High School in 1975, and went on to attend the University of Hawaii. Working summers in Anchorage, he paid for all of his college education and graduated in 1981 from the University of Hawaii with a B.S. in civil engineering. During his time in Hawaii, Eric became a PADI certified scuba diver and spent many hours diving the waters of Hawaii as well as the islands of Palau and Guam.
After graduation he returned to Anchorage and began his engineering career in 1982 working for USKH Architects and Engineers. There he would meet, and then marry, his wife Jerelyn "Jere" Chang in 1985, and attain his Professional Engineer License in 1987. In 1991, he started working for the State of Alaska DOT/PF. By 1997, he became the Chief Engineer at the Anchorage International Airport and in 1998 completed his M.S. in engineering management from University of Alaska Anchorage. In 2005, he went to work in the private sector for ASCG/WH Pacific, and rose through the ranks to become the Principle in Charge, transforming the company to profitability in the process. He returned to the State of Alaska in 2013 to continue and complete a distinguished 21-year career at DOT/PF. He achieved the Project Management Professional global credential in 2019, and retired in 2021 as Section Chief for Preliminary Design and Engineering Services.
He was intelligent, well-read, analytical and a skilled technical writer, with a good head for numbers and the ability to identify, understand and solve large complex problems, projects, budgets, contracts and the workings of bureaucracy. He was known by management for his straight forward attitude, common sense, quality of work and attention to detail. Always standing firm on principle, he was a champion of employee interests and maintained a hands-on approach to managing, helping and teaching his teams. He influenced and guided many young engineers at DOT, AIA and in the consultant world. Eric had an enduring positive attitude, remarkable sense of humor, endless patience and willingness to listen. Known for his friendly and kind demeanor, he is remembered by his colleagues and co-workers as a wonderful person to work with and to work for.
Eric had a passion for travel and work took him to many places in Alaska, from the remote north west village of Point Lay, to south west Naknek in Bristol Bay, to the SE Panhandle, as well as to the Lower 48 and Europe. Summers were filled with family trips, camping, clamming, fishing, biking, numerous winter trips to Jere's family home in Hawaii and road trips all over the Lower 48. In recent years the "America National Parks Passport Book" became the Miyashiros' family guide for travels as he began the quest to get a passport stamp for every national park or historic site in the book and, by 2022, had visited over 75 sites. He enjoyed shooting, biking, river rafting, fishing and dip-netting. He possessed a quick wit that sometimes had a mischievous edge, and loved intellectual banter on current events and the world. Among his many friends he leaves behind fond memories of countless adventures and hours spent in the field and on the range.
He was a loving, generous husband and life partner, and a good father. He enjoyed solving the newspaper's daily crossword and cryptograms as well as sudoku for relaxation. He was a voracious reader, picking up and finishing a John Grisham novel as a "book snack," and always had an issue of US News and World Report in his back pocket if there was ever a spare moment to read. He loved "oldies" music, classic movies, film noir, Hallmark romance movies and the Military History Channel on TV. Compassionate and kind, he was a goofy romantic at heart. He will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him.
He is preceded in death by his father, Stanley Miyashiro; and survived by his wife of 38 years, Jerelyn; sons, Ryan and Peter; mother, Betty Miyashiro; sister, Jane (Bill) Griffith; brothers, Hugh (Janet) Miyashiro and Alan(Jennifer) Miyashiro.
A celebration of life is scheduled for Monday, June 5, 2023, 4:30-6:30 p.m., at the Kincaid Park Outdoor Center in Anchorage.
