Erik Millan Jimenez

Erik was one of a kind. He is a beloved husband, son, brother, uncle, family member, friend, coworker, employee and member of the community. He worked as a software engineer at Microsoft for numerous years. He is one of the smartest people I know and held a PhD in computer sciences and accomplished so much both professionally and personally over the course of his 41 years on this earth. Erik loved so many people and was loved by all who knew him. Tragically we lost our Erik to GBM this past September 2020. Erik was one of those people who comes by once in a lifetime and once you’ve met him you’re forever touched by his life. For anyone who knew Erik, I believe something we all share in is the gratitude, and awe of being in the presence of someone who was so pure and shared his love so freely without restrictions or pride. In a world that is increasingly more skeptical, guarded and closed off Erik was a ray of sunshine who accepted you for who you are and loved you for you were in that moment. I’m reminded of a Pablo Neruda poem, soneto XVII, specifically the part where he wrote “te amo directamente sin problemas ni orgullo: así te amo porque no sé amar de otra manera.” That’s Erik to me. Loving you with all he had, no questions asked, without any complexities or pride because he knew no other way. What an incredible gift he gave us. Erik strived to always do good in this world. He worked hard at being a good worker and helped to lift others up and while working at Microsoft participated in recruiting the next generation of software developers in Mexico. He strived to be a mentor and help those around him achieve success. When he could, Erik always tried to help others whether it was bringing them items during the pandemic or visiting friends post surgery. Erik strived to be a good partner to me, good friend to all, and just be the best person he could be. He was someone you could always count on and loved people so much. Erik was one of the most extroverted people I’ve ever met. When Erik wasn’t tirelessly dedicating himself to his job as a software engineer at Microsoft he filled his time playing games and going to concerts. Anyone who knows Erik knows how much he loved gaming whether that was online, board games or video games. Erik frequently supported different board game projects on KickStarter and had more board games than I could count. He frequently participated in board game nights and we sometimes hosted board game nights at our house. But Erik’s true love was music. Erik’s love for music was legendary. During our two years together we went to nearly 200 concerts together, even sometimes traveling out of state for shows! I know over the years Erik has seen quite a bit of bands with so many friends and loved ones but some of his favorite concerts were Pearl Jam, Rolling Stones, The Strokes, Foo Fighters, Metalachi, Juanes, Metric and honestly the list goes on. Erik attended festivals religiously including Bumbershoot every year. He shared in his love of music with any and everyone and was often at concerts 3-4 times a week with friends and/or with me. Erik came alive during concerts and the joy he felt was palpable to anyone close to him. I could go on and on about my best friend, my partner, my Love whom I shared all my concert adventures with but I’ll just share one favorite memory of mine. We had flown down to California last year and were going to the Tropicalia music festival where they featured new school and old school Latinx performers. Hombres G were playing and they played “Te quiero”. Immediately he turned away from the stage and faced me and belted out “Te quieeeerrrooo!” over and over while dancing at me lol. He just sang to me in the middle of this festival like we were the only two people there, like our love was the only thing that existed. He saw me. And he loved me. I’ll never forget that feeling. I’ll never forget Erik and the love we shared and still share. I know many of us have so many wonderful memories of Erik that we will treasure forever. And if you never met him, I hope that this memorial gives you a small glimpse into his life and how truly loved he was by all who knew him. We will forever miss him and hold him in our hearts.