Roll Call Tribute

Eric William Strom 

May 1, 1963 - May 28, 2024 

Eric William Strom passed away on May 28, 2024. He was 61 years old. Eric had a long fruitful career as a geologist, hydrologist, and director with the US Geological Survey (USGS). His work brought him to Chapin, South Carolina for the last twenty years of his life.

Eric’s life will be celebrated by friends and family on August 31, 2024, from 10 am to 12 pm, at Christus Victor Lutheran Church, 400 Harbison Blvd., Columbia, South Carolina, 29212. There will be a one-hour service at 10 am, followed by lunch and visiting in the Fellowship Hall at 11 am. All those who knew and cared about Eric and his family, are welcome.

Eric grew up in Dallas, Texas, where finding fossils in the local creek bed was a happy pastime. He graduated from Skyline High School, and through their aeronautics program was able to complete flight school. While in high school, Eric learned to engrave at a local retail shop, and with his paychecks purchased another flying lesson each time he was paid. He had a pilot’s license by the time he graduated.

Eric attended Rice University where he graduated in 1988 with a Bachelor's degree in Geology. During this time he spent a summer mapping in the Brooks Range of Alaska, near the North Pole, where he was transformed by his experience of being alone in the wilderness. After graduation Eric received a National Association of Geology Teachers (NAGT) internship at the USGS Woods Hole Branch of Atlantic Marine Geology. While there he was able to do a wide variety of tasks, including a dive in the Johnson Sea-Link submarine. He loved exploring the ocean floor. Eric also spent time in the Canadian wilderness as a teaching assistant one summer.

He and Kathy Kirchhoff were married in Montara, California on August 4, 1990. They moved immediately to College Station, Texas where he attended graduate school at Texas A&M. He earned his Master’s degree in Geology there in 1993. Eric was honored to win the prestigious Reg Brooks Award upon graduation.

His first choice for work was the USGS, and he was thrilled when he was hired to work as a hydrologist at the USGS Water Resources Division in Mississippi. His focus was groundwater modeling. In 1998 he took a position at the USGS Texas Water Science Center (WSC) as the Groundwater Specialist in Austin. Eventually he moved into management as USGS Associate Director for Investigations. While in Austin, he and Kathy enjoyed acting in the local community theater.

In 2001 Eric and Kathy welcomed their daughter, Michelle, to the delight of the whole family. In 2004 they left Texas for South Carolina where Eric took a position as the Director of the USGS in Columbia, SC. They settled in Chapin, where they had a house in the woods on several acres and Eric could teach Michelle the joys of exploring the trees, creeks, springs, and wildlife right in their backyard.

By the time Eric retired in August 2019, he had spent a total of 27 years serving our US citizens as a federal employee of the USGS, dedicated to science. He had at least 32 published, peer-reviewed research articles, two podcasts, a video, and numerous mentions in media, newspapers and other publications. Eric loved his work with the USGS, and was sad to leave it when IgA Nephropathy forced him into early medical retirement. He bravely struggled with eventual dialysis, and all the difficulties this brought.

Eric is survived by his loving family, including his wife, Kathy Kirchhoff Strom, and daughter, Michelle Strom. In addition, he is survived by his father, Edwin Thomas Strom, sister, Laura Strom (Mark Stackpole), and many cousins, nieces, nephews and their children. He is preceded in death by his mother, Charlotte Faye Williams Strom, his grandparents, along with uncles, aunts, cousins and friends.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, Eric’s family suggests memorial donations be made to any of the following organizations.

• Riverbanks Zoo & Gardens, Columbia, South Carolina https://society.riverbanks.org/donate/honorary-memorial-gifts 

• St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital https://www.stjude.org/donate/donate-to-st-jude.html 

• American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) https://secure.aspca.org/donate/memorial