Woman's humorous obituary for late husband goes viral: 'Just a rockin' dude from Omaha'

Editor's note: This article was originally published on March 15, 2021. It has since been updated.

When Crystal Sauser sat down to write her late husband Eric's obituary, she hoped to capture in her words his legacy and celebrate the life she'd shared with him. Her lovingly hilarious obituary achieved social media's attention, leaving a lasting impact on everyone who reads it. "I think his face is so red," Sauser told Good Morning America of what Eric would think about the attention. "He's completely embarrassed by me saying things [in the obituary] like, 'He's dead sexy,' but he would be so happy that he wasn't cookie cutter."

The 43-year-old dental technician—who was dad to Amelia, 11, Violet, 9, and Benjamin, 5—died on February 26, 2021, after a nearly two-year-long fight with cancer. Saucer revealed that Eric was diagnosed with leukemia in April 2019 after he began experiencing night sweats and found himself getting winded after carrying their daughter upstairs to bed. "We were shocked," she said. "Eric said nothing but, 'Oh well, it's fine. We are going to just deal with this.' So, that was our mantra and that's what we followed. He and I are absolutely complete opposites, but the way we managed this was as a team."

"We went in with open eyes and said, 'We are going to do what we have to do to fight this,'" Saucer added. Although Eric underwent a stem cell transplant, experimental therapy, and several other treatments, cancer reappeared in April 2020. "At that point, Eric said, 'Enough is enough. I'm putting you guys through way too much,'" said Saucer, who was married to Eric for 13 years. "But through the entire journey, Eric was such an amazing guy. He always had a smile on his face... he was more worried [about] what was going on with everyone else than him."

"I'm sad because I have a broken heart, but I'm not sad because we didn't win our journey," she added. "Eric never wanted pity... we kind of maintained that in writing the obituary." Saucer explained that when she went to the mortuary to view obituary templates after her husband's death, she couldn't find any that captured who he was as a person. That's when she decided to write the obituary herself, transforming her despair into an affirmation of giggles as she honored Eric's memory. "Eric A. Sauser, AKA Super Dad, AKA Easy, just a rockin' dude from Omaha, NE, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Friday, February 26, 2021, at the age of 43 with his wife by his side. His departure was just in time for him to make his spiritual appearance at every Red Sox spring game," she wrote.

"Eric is survived by his wife, Crystal, and three children, all of whom will likely sleep in the same bed for many years to come (sorry, Eric)... In addition to his immediate family, Eric leaves behind an incredible extended family and many, many friends. He is preceded in death by billions, including his dog Harvey who most of us loved to hate. We are confident they are joyfully reconnecting right now. If you knew Eric, you knew you were loved, and there is a good chance he told you that – probably sober, but maybe not. During his time here, he found a way into everyone's heart," Saucer continued.

"Eric loved, in this order, his smoking hot wife, his brilliant kids and family, his many friends, the Boston Red Sox, the Kansas City Chiefs (before being a Chiefs fan was cool), the Huskers, Liverpool Futbol, QT iced tea, Adidas sneakers, fishing, backpacking, hiking, hunting, and any old Chevy he saw on the road. Eric hated sad stories, beets, romantic comedies, a snow-packed driveway, and turning off the garage light. That's it. Eric was content with most everything else. We are not positive, but we think the cause of death was either leukemia or more likely being "dead sexy". Eric, we've always loved you and miss you already," she added. Eric's daughter Amelia read the obit at his celebration of life, where a dance party also took place.