June 6, 1951 – June 23, 2025
Eric Schmidt, 74, a resident of The Sea Ranch, CA, died on June 23 at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, CA, due to complications from a brain tumor. Eric and his wife, Denise Garcia, lived for 5 years on San Juan Island, from 2019 to 2024.
Eric was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1951 to Paul F. Schmidt and Rebecca J. Kennedy. In his early years, Eric resided in Oberlin, Ohio, where Paul was an Assistant Professor of Philosophy. At 10 years old, Eric was honored by the Appalachian Mountain Club as the youngest person to climb all 4,000-foot peaks in New Hampshire. As a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, Eric worked with the American Friends Service Committee on construction projects in Kingston, Jamaica and Fresno, California, while studying landscape architecture at the University of Oregon. In 1981, Eric received a master’s degree in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was awarded the Alpha Rho Chi Medal for leadership and service. Eric worked for Lawrence Halprin & Associates, Jones & Jones Architects and Landscape Architects, and the City of Boston before founding his own firm, Cascade Design Collaborative in Seattle, in 1995.
When not working, Eric enjoyed a multitude of outdoor activities and was planning his eighth trip through the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. Eric was preceded in death by his father, mother, and siblings, Karl and Ileene Schmidt. He is survived by his wife, Denise García and their daughter Lina; brother Lawrence Schmidt (Monika Reuss) and sister Hilary Gilford (Cono DiZeo); as well as his aunt Mary Cochran; his nieces and nephew Kassandra, Giuseppa, and Nathan; and numerous cousins, including Anne Gustafson (Gus) of Larkspur, CA, who named her son Erik after him.
Eric’s celebration of life is on Saturday, September 13 at noon at Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland, CA. To share memories of Eric, visit https://oakland.chapelofthechimes.com/obituaries/eric-schmidt-7/obituary.
Donations in Eric’s memory can be made to The American Friends Service Committee at https://afsc.org or The Freedom Archives at https://freedomarchives.org.
