Eric's memorial service at 10 a.m. Saturday, January 30, will be livestreamed.

To view the service, please click on this link: https://youtu.be/n5GIUSFrmso

Eric Stephen Paddy

February 5, 1976 - January 21, 2021

Several "f" words define Eric Paddy's life: family, faith, friends and, oh yes, football.

He was a lifelong fan of the sport (he received his first football from his grandfather just a few hours after he was born), played in high school and for part of his college days, and coached a junior high team for a few years.

During the course of his life, he changed his game plan multiple times — starting and stopping college several times, switching majors, dabbling in business and banking — but when he landed on his purpose, working with people with differing abilities, and fell in love with Heather Williams, he found a strategy that scored the goal of a most wonderful life. And he knew it. When his son William Henry was born Nov. 14, 2014, it was his Super Bowl of life victory.

Eric was born in Houston on Feb. 5, 1976, and except for a couple of brief periods, he lived most of his life in the area. His death from colorectal cancer, which was diagnosed in August 2019, was unpredictably rapid. He died peacefully at his Tomball home on the evening of Jan. 21, 2021, surrounded by family and friends — just like he wanted. He was 44.

He graduated from Cy-Fair High School in 1994 and from Sam Houston State University with a degree in kinesiology in 2006. By this time, he had become active in Graceview Baptist Church and a small request to help with a respite event at the church changed the trajectory of his life. That evening of working with people of differing abilities led him to serving as a volunteer, staff member and board member of Camp Blessing, a camp for those with special needs, which led him to Heather Williams, who became his wife on May 22, 2010.  It also led him to get his special education certification, which landed him the perfect job as an adaptive physical education coach in the Tomball Independent School District.

He was fond of saying he had hit the pinnacle of success when he got that job because he could wear shorts and T-shirts to work every day. He wasn't joking.

At a charity auction several years ago, he bought a football signed by former Houston Oiler and Hall of Famer Bruce Matthews. Eric admired Matthews because he played so many different positions, which made him extremely useful to his team. Eric wanted to emulate that as a football player, but he also adapted that strategy to his life off the field. He worked hard to play all his many different positions— husband, father, son, brother, friend, uncle, cousin, nephew, TISD employee, and church deacon — with humor and integrity.

Eric had a knack for being able to communicate with everyone — celebrities and those with special needs alike — with an uncommon ease. He also had a gift for turning an ordinary event into an extraordinarily funny story. While he sometimes sounded like a grumpy old man — a young curmudgeon who pretended not to like people — his actions revealed a soft spot for those who became part of his life. He was an encyclopedia of all things Texas, a memory bank of movie lines and music lyrics, and a repository of funny and useless information. He kept his family entertained by changing the lyrics to popular songs and singing to them and by giving them the news of the day with his own spin.

His faith was strong. He knew the only Bible some people would read was a believer's life and he did his best to live in such a way that the Gospel message was clear: Jesus loves you just the way you are. He kept it simple and never pretended to be something other than who he was — an imperfect, beloved child of God.

While 2020 may go down in history as one of the worst years the planet has ever experienced, the Paddy family made the most of those crazy, chaotic pandemic days. A wall of photos in their home chronicles a year of adventures and time together.

Recently, his wife and son brainstormed a list of Eric's favorite things. At the top are, of course, his wife and son followed by camping, hiking, outdoor adventures of all kinds, barbecue, Texas, football, "M*A*S*H," Astros baseball, the colors green and brown, and Star pizza.

Eric is survived by his wife, Heather; son, William Henry; mother, Pattie Paddy; father, George and wife Laura Paddy; sisters Melissa Paddy, Allison and husband Tod Morrison, and Megan Paddy; and a ginormous web of extended family and friends that stretches from Texas to Massachusetts to Illinois to Colorado to California to Alaska and back again.

Those who wish to remember Eric in a special way are invited to donate to their favorite charity
or to Graceview Baptist Church, www.graceview.org.; Beloved and Beyond, a camp for those with differing abilities, www.belovedandbeyond.org .; Camp Blessing, also a camp for those with differing abilities and where Eric and Heather met, www.campblessing.org .; or to William's college fund, https://www.gofundme.com/f/william-paddys-college-fund?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1 .

More importantly, however, those who loved Eric are asked to remember that you never have as much time as you think you have. If there's something you want to do, please do it now in Eric's memory.  Eric, however, would encourage you to not always be doing — sometimes the best thing is just to go sit with your loved ones and enjoy their presence.

Thank you for being part of Eric's life.