William 'Erik' Glasser of Murphysboro

William "Erik" Glasser departed our lives on Friday, Oct. 22, 2021. He was proceeded in death by his father, William Lester "Bill" Glasser of Murphysboro; his mother, Pamela Darlene Coffel of Mesa, Arizona; and his maternal grandparents and paternal grandfather.

He leaves behind three beautiful daughters, Kimberly "Captain" Lovesey, 20, of Carterville, Illinois, Macy "Monkey" Makala Glasser, 15, of Marion, Illinois, and Jordyn Carter Tindle, 6 months, of Murphysboro, Illinois; and a half brother, Aaron Perrigan, 25, of Murphysboro.

Erik will be greatly missed by many aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and co-workers.

Erik was born in Carbondale, Illinois on July 4, 1976. He came into the world a beautiful, blonde-haired, blue-eyed bouncing baby boy of 10 pounds. It is ideal that he was born on July Fourth, because he was very much like a firecracker, you never knew what kind of force he was capable of until to you put the heat to him.

He was gentle, kind and caring when he needed to be or he could be fierce, protective and strong-willed if that's what the situation called for. One thing for sure, his family and friends always knew he had their back. If you knew Erik well enough, he never left you wondering where you stood with him. He was honest and open and didn't spare his opinion if he felt strongly about a person or subject.

Erik was a huge music buff and would challenge anyone to music trivia standoffs. If you were competitive enough to take that challenge, you had better be well-versed in the music world. He had a great love for body art, known to most of us as tattoos. His body art was as original as he was and many laughed and were awed by the masterpiece on his back of "Chef Gore."

It was his love of great food and being a talented cook that inspired the dark character of Chef Gore.

Throughout the years, Erik shared his homestyle cuisine with many restaurants in southern Illinois.

The most recent restaurant to enjoy his talents was Cindy B's in Murphysboro. Erik considered his co-workers at Cindy B's as another extension of his family.

Erik attended grade school in Murphysboro until after 6th grade. He enjoyed his grade school years with his cousins, Joshua Glasser and Michael McCoy. At that time, he moved to be with his mother and complete his education through high school in Mesa, Arizona.

At the age of 19 he returned to Murphysboro and was welcomed back by his family and longtime friends. We were so excited at having Erik return back to southern Illinois! He was well-loved and our lives have been changed by the opportunity to love this gentle giant of a man.

Our hearts have been shattered that his time was cut short and he left us without knowing we would be receiving our last smile, last bear hug and last "I love you."

A private celebration will take place for family & friends to celebrate his life.