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Eric Joseph Harkelrode 1989 - 2007

Eric Joseph Harkelrode of Columbiana, Ohio was born on January 18, 1989, and died at age 18 years old on July 3, 2007. Eric Harkelrode was buried at Hillside Cemetery in West Farmington, Trumbull County.
Eric Joseph Harkelrode
Joe
Columbiana, Ohio
January 18, 1989
Ohio, United States
July 3, 2007
Ohio, United States
Male
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Eric Joseph Harkelrode's History: 1989 - 2007

Uncover new discoveries and connections today by sharing about people & moments from yesterday.
  • Introduction

    Eric Joseph "Joe" Harkelrode was born to Thomas James and Vickie Dawn Harkelrode. He had siblings Thomas II (1987 - 2022) and Matthew (1990 - 1999). Matthew died in 1999 at age 9 from accidental asphyxiation while sleeping. In 2007, son "Joe", age 18, died in a car accident. The third sibling, Thomas died at the age of 35 while on a hunting trip. After all three of her sons died, Vickie started a foundation to help others, dedicated in their names. Read about that foundation at Tragedy sparks generosity. Eric's - Joe's - headstone says: "Life is short but Love is forever" and had a picture of a basketball hoop and of him playing basketball.
  • 01/18
    1989

    Birthday

    January 18, 1989
    Birthdate
    Ohio United States
    Birthplace
  • Nationality & Locations

    Eric was a lifelong resident of Ohio.
  • Early Life & Education

    Eric's death certificate says that he had graduated high school.
  • Personal Life & Family

    Eric Harkelrode was born to Thomas James and Vickie Dawn Harkelrode. He had siblings Thomas II (1987 - 2022) and Matthew (1990 - 1999). Eric never married, nor did he have children, since he died at the age of 18. He loved basketball.
  • 07/3
    2007

    Death

    July 3, 2007
    Death date
    car accident
    Cause of death
    Ohio United States
    Death location
  • Gravesite & Burial

    mm/dd/yyyy
    Funeral date
    Hillside Cemetery in West Farmington, Trumbull County, Ohio 44491, United States
    Burial location
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    Memories
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Tragedy sparks generosity
West Farmington mom runs foundation to honor her 3 sons’ memories

WEST FARMINGTON — Winston Churchill is claimed to have said, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” Perhaps there is no better example of that spirit and tenacity than Vickie Harkelrode.

It is impossible to imagine the heartbreak of parents who lose all three of their children. Vickie and Jimmy Harkelrode, now married 40 years, have lived through that heartbreak, yet still have the heart to do something positive about it.

The Tommy Harkelrode Memorial Golf Outing, named after the Harkelrode’s oldest son, took place July 7. The outing generated $17,000 to be given to the annual Cleveland Congenital Heart Walk Sept. 7. The walk will take place at Wade Oval Park in Cleveland 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Funds from the Heart Walk go directly to the Children’s Heart Foundation to advance the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of congenital heart defects by funding groundbreaking research.

Vickie Harkelrode was the catalyst behind the golf outing and numerous other fundraisers that have helped so many children and adults through the years — too many to count.

When you lose your children, you want their memory to live on,” Harkelrode said. “There’s a healing aspect to tragedy when you reach out to help others when you can’t help yourself. I am dedicated to the memory of my sons.”

One of the motivating factors behind Harkelrode’s desire to support the Children’s Heart Foundation came when Russell Dunlap, the son of Bud Dunlap, Tommy’s best friend, was stricken with four different heart ailments as a newborn. Russell went into cardiac arrest when he was 1 month old and was given CPR for 30 minutes to keep him alive. Today, Russell is 8 and living a healthy life.

“Vickie is the most amazing woman I know,” Bud said. “She loves and cares for everyone and her resilience is an inspiration to those around her. Everyone in our community looks up to her as a mother-figure. Her faith in God is unwavering. After everything she has been through, she continues to help other people in every way possible.

TRAGEDY STRIKES TWICE

The Harkelrodes’ nightmare began in December 1999, when their youngest son, Matthew, died at the age of 9 from an accidental asphyxiation while sleeping. He was in the third grade.

Eight years later, in July 2007, middle son Joe died in a car accident. He was 18 and had just acquired his driver’s license two weeks earlier. Joe graduated from Bristol High School about a month before his death.

It was at that point that Vickie Harkelrode began her crusade. Rather than turning inward to think of herself, even after the loss of her second child, she did the opposite. Harkelrode contacted the Ohio State Highway Patrol and was adamant about preaching to teenagers about the dangers of distracted driving. Programs such as “Prom Promise” and “SMASH” (students making a safer highway) became prominent in the area.

The patrol, pushed vigilantly by Harkelrode, elevated safe driving practices in every high school. Several times, Harkelrode was the featured speaker in those schools, something that made her uncomfortable, but something she felt was necessary. She could never get her own son back, but she did not want other parents to go through what she went through.

“The impact Vickie had was profound,” said Lauren Merz, state highway trooper. “She was so persistent, so passionate, that everyone, whether teenagers or adults, became better drivers because of her message. I looked up to her like she was my mentor.”

FOUNDATION CREATED

It was also after Joe’s death that Lisa Spelich, a friend of Harkelrode, suggested that she, Vickie and friend Kim Stevens start a foundation to help children in need in their local Farmington area. The Harkelrode Memorial Foundation was created later that year.

“I had seen first-hand what Vickie had been through when Matthew died,” Spelich said. “Then when Joe died, I felt Vickie needed a way to channel and process all her grief. My son, Brandon, was Joe’s best friend so we were all very close. I thought if Vickie could help ease the pain of others, it would help her deal with her own pain.”

The foundation that Harkelrode started, and all of the good that has since come from it, is no surprise to Spelich.

“She’s the strongest person I know,” Spelich said. “No one can imagine what her heart has been through, but we all know how big that heart is.”

Perhaps Spelich had Winston Churchill in mind when she said, “Every day Vickie gets up and just keeps on going. She’s selfless. Her inspiration is contagious. She opens her home to anyone who wants to come in. She’s incredibly unselfish and very, very special.”

In a tragic twist of fate, Spelich’s grandson, Marco Hill, died from critical aortic stenosis (AS) in August 2021 when he was just 3 months old. AS is a valve disease that prevents the heart from pumping blood to the brain and other areas.

Along with Russell Dunlap, this also motivated Harkelrode to support the Children’s Heart Foundation. Spelich, the very friend who motivated Harkelrode to start a foundation to help children, will be the recipient of that benevolence next month. Funds raised from the Tommy Harkelrode Memorial Golf Outing will go to the memory of “Marco’s Miracle” at the Heart Walk.

“I believe that God brought Vickie and me together for a reason,” Spelich said.

FINAL LOSS

The Harkelrodes’ oldest son, Tommy, died in November 2022 at the age of 35 while on a hunting trip with his son, Eric. Tommy had recently recovered from COVID-19 when he suffered an asthma attack while on the trip. Tommy was a firefighter and paramedic for the Niles Fire Department after serving previously in the Farmington, Bristolville and Middlefield fire departments.

“People told me all the time what a wonderful paramedic Tommy was,” Harkelrode said. “Several individuals talked about the lives he helped save and how passionate he was about his job.”

Tommy loved watching Rescue 911 as a little kid, and actually tried, at 12-years-old, to save his brother, Matthew, when they found him unconscious in bed. A big part of the reason Tommy became a firefighter and paramedic was because he knew the anguish of losing both his younger brothers.

“His brothers could not be saved,” Harkelrode said, “so Tommy decided that if he could save others, and save the pain of their families, that’s what he wanted to do.”

Niles fire Chief John Stevens also spoke about Tommy’s passion. “What stood out to me about Tommy was his outstanding work ethic,” Stevens said. “His greatest asset to the department was his aggressive nature to help people. Whether it was treating patients as a paramedic or pulling people out of a burning house — which he did — Tommy gave everything he had to whatever crisis situation was presented.”

TURNING HEARTBREAK INTO HELPING OTHERS

The Harkelrode Memorial Foundation has helped countless children since its inception, conducting bowl-a-thons, nights-at-the-races, alumni basketball games and other events that have raised considerable funds for numerous causes.

A special fundraiser at a Bristol basketball game garnered $1,000 to help buy a prosthetic leg for Andie Fisher, a Badger Elementary student who lost her leg in a lawnmower accident.

A member of Southington Christian Church, Harkelrode learned that another member, 31-year old Beth Ann Vanek, was diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer in 2011.

“Vickie came up to me in church one day and handed me a check for $1,000 from her foundation and told me about a bowl-a-thon she was planning on my behalf,” Vanek said. “It was out of the blue. Vickie is as pure, genuine, down-to-earth and good hearted as anyone can possibly be.”

Since then, Vanek and a group of friends started their own fundraising organization, “War Against Breast Cancer,” and of course, Harkelrode is a regular contributor. Vanek is now 44 and cancer free.

Harkelrode also has been an active speaker at local events and functions urging people and groups to find it in their hearts to help those less fortunate — all in dedication to her three sons.

Seven $1,000 scholarships were raised for graduates of Bristol High, where Joe graduated. The foundation also provided vouchers, at least a dozen, for students who could not afford their “pay-for-play” sports bills, which are common in the local area.

In 2010, Harkelrode learned that a 10-year old girl, Annie Stauffer, had been diagnosed with Rett Syndrome, a rare genetic and neurological developmental disorder that affects motor skills, speech and cognitive ability. Annie’s mother, Emily Cleer, began raising funds for a $10,000 service dog to become a much-needed companion for Annie.

“We were about three-quarters of the way toward that $10,000 goal when Vickie learned about Annie,” Cleer said. “She came to us that day and handed me a check from her foundation to cover the remaining amount. I had been turned down by other foundations. We were able to buy a dog named Cocoa for Annie.”

Cocoa lived with Annie for 12 years. He was able to calm her down whenever she experienced anxiety. They were best friends throughout Annie’s teen years and beyond.

“I honestly cannot put into words how much Vickie Harkelrode means to me and our small community,” Cleer said. “She is honoring her own children by helping and celebrating everyone else’s. Her kids will never be forgotten, and neither will she.”

Harkelrode and her fundraising efforts have been an integral part of Share-a-Christmas, a program that includes Southington Schools, Bristol Schools and the Farmington Community Church. This program has provided gifts and Christmas dinners to those in the area who are food insecure and financially unable to purchase Christmas presents for their kids.

When an English teacher at Chalker High School, Justine Pickett, suffered a stroke in August 2010, the Harkelrode Foundation was quick to help. Pickett was paralyzed on her right side, could not talk and had difficulty eating. The foundation donated $2,000 to help family finances while Pickett’s husband was on leave from his job as a road painter.

“At the time I was not aware of Vickie’s foundation or how many people she had helped,” Pickett said. “It meant so much to me that she reached out, not just financially, but the spirit of her giving. I knew about Matthew and Joe, and Tommy was actually one of my students at Chalker. Count me among the many who are truly amazed at Vickie’s strength. We hug every time we see each other.”

The foundation has reached a broad base of causes and efforts, including the purchase of swing sets at the West Farmington Village Park, helping with the local Cops for Kids program, donating money for funeral expenses for area children who have tragically passed, and assisting children afflicted with Cystic Fibrosis.

‘HUMBLED AND HONORED’

So profound is Vickie Harkelrode’s impact on her community, people call her “Mama Vick,” even those she has never met.

“It’s bittersweet to hear that,” Harkledrode said. “On one hand it hurts so bad that I am not a mama anymore, but on the other hand, people who use that term do so affectionately in a larger, community sense. I’m both humbled and honored.”

Harkelrode retired from Fairhaven Industries in Champion as an outcome specialist this past May after two very rewarding years, once again, helping other people live a better life. When Mama Vick is not actively raising money to help others, she spends her time with her three grandchildren: Caitlyn (15), Eric (11) and Addison (7), all from her son Tommy.

“I am driven by my religious beliefs,” Harklerode said. “I don’t ever want my three boys to be forgotten. I want them to look down from heaven and be proud that I tried to help the world in their memory.”

- Tribune Chronicle August 24, 2024 by Tim Gleason at
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Eric Harkelrode's Family Tree & Friends

Eric Harkelrode's Family Tree

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