Carrie Erickson

Caralee Jonean (Noble) Erickson passed away on February 10, 2020 at the age of 58 years. She was born on July 8,1961 in Soap Lake, Washington, the youngest of three children born to Denzil C. and Marilyn L. (Williams) Noble.Carrie’s first few years were spent in Ephrata, WA then in Monroe, WA where she attended elementary and middle schools. Moving back to Ephrata in 1974, she graduated from Ephrata High School in 1979. She was active in school sports, including basketball, volleyball, and track. In October 1979, an automobile accident left her quadriplegic. Over the next two decades, she lived in Ephrata, WA, Libby, MT, Spokane, WA, Yakima, WA, and for the last two decades in Spirit Lake, ID. She achieved a Legal Assistant degree while living in Spokane. In 1998, everything changed for Carrie, she and Bill met and their 22 year journey together began. We quickly fell in love and that love only grew and intensified over the years. We were best friends and never argued over anything as we believed arguing only planted negative seeds in a relationship. We learned what was important and just focused on that. In 2000, we moved to Spirit Lake into our small house and after some remodeling and paint, Carrie turned it into our home. Then in the summer of 2001, Carrie found out she was pregnant and her dreams and prayers were answered. The smile and glow on her face remained throughout her pregnancy and on March 4, 2002 Carrie gave birth to our son, Denzil Hunter Erickson. The reservoir of a mother’s love she had been storing up began to flow, only growing deeper and stronger over time. After getting Carrie and Hunter home from the hospital, I took a month off work and we identified things that had to be addressed. With Carrie being a C6-7, partial C5 quadriplegic with only bicep and wrist use, and no finger and thumb use, even changing diapers needed a solution. With 2 crochet hooks, a key ring, a small piece of dowel rod and a paper punch the problem was solved. By soldering a key ring to one of the crochet hooks and sanding the dowel rod, the hooks were attached to the dowel rod and Carrie had fingers. She would slip the key ring over her bent index finger and dowel in the palm with hooks sticking out the ends. Carrie was now able to zip zippers and after I punched holes with the paper punch in the diapers tabs she was able to change her sons diapers on her own. She was now able to care and raise Hunter after solving all the problems. When I went back to work on 12 hour night shifts, she took care of Hunter. She was an incredible mom and raised and taught Hunter over the years The two of them were BEST friends besides mother/son and when Carrie got her handicap van, their adventures at Silverwood went to a new level. They would load up her van a couple times a week, sometimes grabbing one of Hunters friends to come along and another Silverwood adventure was on. The two would count the days till Silverwood would open, once the new year arrived. Carrie loved going to concerts, everything from metal, hard rock, rock to country. She wanted to expose Hunter to all types of music, but her favorite was the yearly Brian Regan concert, her favorite comedian. Carrie and Hunter attended many concerts after he got his driver’s license, more mom and son best friend adventures. Raising Hunter included long walks around town with her in the electric wheelchair and Hunter in her lap or walking/running alongside. She figured out how she could use a Wii controller and the two of them had bowling matches a couple times a week. Their bond was strong, and Hunter had no secrets from Mom. Carrie also loved the mountains, she and Hunter would often accompany me on hunting trips. We would load up the truck well before sunrise and head up above Spirit Lake, Carrie had this unbelievable ability to spot animals in the woods. I quickly learned this was a real asset when one was hunting, so we would find an area and park the truck and let her look over hillsides, draws and other areas. In 2006, we put in for moose tags and she drew a cow tag, and that fall she filled her tag. As Hunter was growing up, she enjoyed fishing trips to Spirit Lake and Kelso Lake. She wanted her son to experience the beauty of the mountains and the outdoors, always teaching. In 2004, we moved to our current home and after 3 months of remodeling we moved in and Carrie made it our home. Her touches are evident throughout the home as she wanted it to be warm, comfortable and welcoming. She sanded and refinished all the cabinets in the home on her own, we set up a sanding table she could work on and with her stereo blaring she went to work. She continued to raise Hunter over the years, always teaching him what was important, honesty, integrity, what was right and wrong, being responsible and caring of others, the love of God and our savior Jesus Christ. Her dream was to watch him graduate this spring, she already started planning everything last fall, ordering announcements and other items, checking possible venues for the celebration that was to follow. She was so proud of the young man Hunter had grown into and would tell anyone who asked. That strong mothers love flowed till the end. She was amazing. Carrie has now been gone for a few weeks and home with her heavenly father. The unexpected suddenness of her death at KMC have left our family shocked and numb. We are slowing dealing with everything and will be ok, but it’s going to take time. What I miss most is all the little things we shared, Hunter or me lifting her in and of her chair or bed. That’s when we would hold her close as she wrapped her arms around our necks and hug us, kissing our necks or trying to make us laugh. These are the little things one misses. We miss the middle of the night IV antibiotics she would be on after a wound surgery or hospitalization. But Hunter and I have years of nothing but wonderful memories of mom, not one negative memory exists. Carrie was intelligent, beautiful, funny, caring and loving, her faith, and family were everything to her. She was one of the least handicapped people you could ever meet. She never complained about being a quadriplegic and strived to live as normal a life as possible, which she did. Over the years she was blessed to have some wonderful caregivers Jane, Jaime, Sabrina, Katie, Karissa, and Hannah, Carrie became a mom or big sister to them. Carrie loved you and you all became part of our family. Our family thanks you for wonderful care, love and friendship you shared with Mom. We thank and appreciate family, friends and neighbors who provided meals, support, and shoulders to cry on during the time since Carrie went home. We would like to thank the ER staff at KMC, ICU staff and 3 north nurses, especially Micki, Taylor, and Mark, thank you for all you did. Also, Dr. Brandon Greene, Carrie really enjoyed your visit with her and Hunter Sunday afternoon. Your caring, compassion and concern for her was evident. I thank you, Brandon, for your shoulder and phone calls, another day with Carrie and she would have made you part of our family as Hunter and I have. A special thank you to Janet, Carrie’s best friend for over 50 years. You were always there for Carrie and always had her back. You were the sister she never had. She loved and cherished you and your family. Carrie is survived by her loving husband William (Bill) and son Denzil (Hunter), of Spirit Lake, ID; brothers, Michael (Cindy) of Yakima WA, Lance (Tina) of Cusick WA; sisters-in-law, Mary (Harvey) L’esperance of Brighton, MI, Margaret (Royale) Anderson of Howell, MI, Sandy (John) Wittenberg of AZ; brother-in-law Dan (Pat) Erickson of MN,, and numerous aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by her parents, Denzil and Marilyn Noble. A memorial service will be held at Bell Tower Funeral Home: 3398 Jenalan Ave, Post Falls, ID, 83854, on Saturday, July 18th, 2020 and 11:00 a.m. Please share your memories of Carrie at www.belltowerfuneralhome.com. Bell Tower Funeral Home and Crematory is entrusted with services.