Erik David Heppler

September 10, 1983 - October 2, 2019

Erik David Heppler, self-proclaimed “luckiest man alive,” finished his mortal life on October 2, 2019, after nearly five years battling cancer.  
Erik was born to David and Lorna Heppler on September 10, 1983. As a young child, he had a built-in best friend in his older brother, Scott. The two of them shared many things, from a paper route at age 7 to a lifelong interest in all things computer related. Erik became an older brother with the birth of his sister, Eryn, whom he both fiercely loved and relentlessly teased. As his sister, Shawna and then brother James joined the family, the five became lifelong gaming partners. As a family, they could frequently be found playing board games, vacationing in Oregon, or participating in Boy Scout activities. Erik proudly became an Eagle Scout at 13 years of age. He liked to say that while Scott got his Eagle first, Erik earned his younger, thereby “winning” the undeclared competition.  
Erik’s childhood enjoyment of video games became an adulthood ambition to play all the best games. He started collecting retro games and consoles in his twenties. He spent many years enjoying his collection and the friends he met through this hobby. 
Erik’s faith was a central part of his identity. He served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Veracruz, Mexico. Through his service, he learned to love unconditionally and always see the good in others. This character trait helped him gain many friends, who were always treated as family.  
The day after returning home from his mission, Erik met Carolyn, who quickly became the love of his life. They were married on August 13, 2005, and had three amazing children: Alice, Jack, and Zoe. Erik was a devoted and caring daddy and considered his children to be three of his greatest blessings. As they grew, he became a reassuring and uplifting dad who found it hard to say no to any kind of play time.  
Erik was a dedicated employee and a hard worker. He took great pride in his work and had a talent for explaining intricate ideas and concepts. He received several awards for his outstanding service and was known as the “go-to guy” for finding creative solutions to complex problems.  
In December 2014, Erik was diagnosed with colon cancer. After months of surgeries and chemotherapy, he was declared to be in remission. Once his body recovered from the treatments that saved his life, he decided to live that life to its fullest. He made great efforts to become as healthy as possible, and lost 100 lbs through diet and exercise. With his new healthy body, he took joy in early morning hikes, playing ultimate frisbee on his lunch break, and late evening bicycle rides through town.  
Knowing that the risk of recurrence was high, Erik lived his life with no regrets. He worked efficiently, played hard, and laughed often. He traveled to Japan, Taiwan, Sweden, Norway, and England. He loved experiencing different cultures and truly saw the best of every place he went.  
In June 2018, Erik found that his cancer had returned. Days later, he ran the American Fork Canyon Race Against Cancer half marathon as a cancer survivor. He disliked running and freely admitted that he hated every moment of it, but he finished strong. The strength he exhibited in spite of the hardship is perfectly analogous to the way he fought for his life over the past 15 months.  
Erik valiantly endured months of chemotherapy, radiation, surgeries, clinical trials, and targeted therapy. Each treatment had a unique and harrowing set of side effects, and all attempts to stop the cancer were fruitless. He stayed strong in spite of disappointment and fatigue. That strength and positivity brought comfort to those around him, and he is now resting in all the comfort that he deserves.  
Erik was incredibly easy-going, but he had strong opinions on a few things. One of those was the idea that life isn’t fair. He explained, “I completely agree that life isn’t fair, but I don’t think my life and everything that’s happened to me is unfair in the way people mean it. I’ve been given every advantage and opportunity to succeed and I’ve been blessed with success in all that I’ve set out to do. I’ve never worried about not having the necessities. In fact, I’ve always been blessed with more than that, including a lot of luxuries. As far as I see it, I don’t deserve most of the good things that I’ve experienced. Other people have worked harder and suffered more and haven’t had a fraction of the privileges I’ve had. I have been fortunate to do everything that I wanted in my short life. I never did sufficient to deserve those blessings. So yes, life isn’t fair, and even the cancer doesn’t really seem to tip the scale.” 
Erik is preceded in death by his father Dave; grandparents Virgil and Bobette Skyles; and grandmother Shirley Heppler. He will be missed by so many loving friends and family including his wife Carolyn Heppler; children Alice, Jack, and Zoe; mother Lorna Heppler; siblings Scott (Melissa) Heppler, Eryn (Rick) Stalker, Shawna (Josh) Brooks, and James (Ashley) Heppler; grandfather Rosco (Buena) Heppler; loving in-laws Gary and Susie Oviatt, Jason Oviatt and Inayah Cooley, Michael and Melissa Oviatt, David and Sarah Oviatt, Audrey and Sam Gallagher, and Bridget and Cristian Robinson; as well as aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews. Funeral Services will be held on Monday, October 7th at 11:00 am at the Springville Stake Center, 245 South 600 East, Springville, Utah, where Viewings will be held on Sunday, October 6th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm and prior to the service on Monday from 9:30 to 10:30 am. Interment will be in the Provo City Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, a college fund has been set up for Erik’s children at Utah Community Credit Union. Donations can be made at any branch location. Funeral Directors: Utah Valley Mortuary.