Dick Erickson 1935-2001: UW rowing legend 'was consummate Husky'

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Dick Erickson, who made history as a Huskies rower and coach, died at his Marysville home before dawn. He was 65.

"It probably was a heart attack," said his son Alan, who rowed for his father from 1979 to 1982.

Decades of Huskies rowers telephoned each other with the news.

"Within an hour, I had dozens of messages," Mike Hess, captain of the UW crew that won the 1977 Henley Grand Challenge Trophy in England. "It's incredible how fast the word spread. That crew bond is always there."

The news was stunning.

"He's one guy I expected to live to 90 and be crabby and ornery," Hess said.

Erickson is in the Husky Hall of Fame as a rower and coach. He was on the 1958 crew that defeated the Leningrad Trud Rowing Club crew in Moscow after losing to the Soviets at the Henley Regatta in England.

In 1994, he entered the Hall of Fame as a coach for a varsity career that spanned 20 seasons (1968-87) and included 15 Pacific Coast championships, the 1977 Henley Grand Challenge championship and the 1984 national collegiate title. He coached Huskies freshmen for four years before taking over the varsity.

After leaving coaching, Erickson was facilities manager for the UW athletic complex.

"He was the consummate Husky," said Bob Ernst, who coached the UW women's team before taking over the men's varsity in 1987. "He loved the University of Washington. He probably would have worked for free just because he loved the place."

In the days leading up to major events, Erickson often slept in a maintenance trailer on a bed made out of Husky Stadium cushions. That way, he was there to handle any problem.

Erickson had told friends he wanted to help the Seahawks get through their second and final season at Husky Stadium this fall and then retire.

UW Athletic Director Barbara Hedges said, "It is difficult to put into words how very special Dick was. His contributions to the department over 38 years were immeasurable. He truly touched the lives of everyone in the department."

Erickson is one of four men honored with a bronze plaque in the Conibear Shellhouse. The others are Hiram Conibear, George Pocock and Al Ulbrickson.

Erickson played a major role in the creation of the UW women's rowing program in the 1970s.

"The concept we have today of Washington rowing as one program — the men's and women's crew together — is something Dick deserves the credit for," said Coach Jan Harville, whose Washington women's crew this spring won the NCAA championship for the third time in five years.

In 1994, a UW women's varsity shell was dedicated in Erickson's honor. Frank Coyle, president of the U.S. Rowing Association, said at the dedication ceremony, "I don't know any coach in the United States who has done more for women's rowing."

Erickson also was instrumental in making Opening Day the nationally recognized regatta it is today.

"It has become one of the biggest and best regattas in the world and it was all Dick's idea," Ernst said. "I feel like I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have come here and worked with him. He was a make-it-happen guy — always positive, a can-do guy."

In recent years, Erickson served as a cable-television commentator for the telecast of Opening Day.

As a Huskies oarsman, Erickson was known to go shirtless during some cold-weather workouts to show toughness. As a coach, his techniques varied from closed-door private talks to displays of temper such as throwing megaphones into the lake and one day kicking out the windshield of the coach's launch.

He was a tireless promoter and fundraiser as coach. Rowers sold football programs, held car washes and even stood downtown with donation jars in one hand and an oar in the other. He demanded that his athletes graduate, and they did. He had a cross-section of friends that included millionaires and his coffee-drinking buddies in the UW physical plant repair shop.

One year, he returned home from a regatta to discover a prank of oarsmen not on the trip. His car was turned into a souped-up, noisy roadster with flames painted on the side. He jumped in and drove it to show it off to his buddies at the repair shop.

Erickson was born in Arlington on Dec. 19, 1935, and earned letters in football, basketball, track and tennis at Arlington High School before enrolling at the UW. He earned two varsity crew letters and a degree in physical education. In 1964, he earned a master's degree in educational administration from Harvard.

He served for years on the Edmonds School District board and was active in Boy Scouts.

The family will finalize arrangements today. Tentative plans are for a private funeral and a public memorial service, probably at the UW.

Richard D. Erickson is survived by his wife, Irma; their three sons, Alan of Everett, Jon of Marysville and Jeff of Petersburg, Alaska; and three grandchildren.

"He was my best friend," Alan said of his father. "I talked to him every day. I lost more than a father."

Craig Smith can be reached at 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com.