Eric Schenck

Placerville resident Staff Sgt. Eric Christopher Schenck died from injuries sustained in a traffic accident while returning from a field training exercise in South Korea. He was 33.

He was born in Nampa, Idaho, to Charles and JoAnne Schenck on Feb. 24, 1984. He grew up in Idaho and California, settling in El Dorado County at the age of 8. He graduated from El Dorado High School in 2002.

After graduation Eric worked at various jobs and attended Consumnes River College part time. He did volunteer work with the Boys and Girls Club and as a Big Brother to underprivileged youth.

In fall 2009, he joined the Army. He was a medic at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. From there he was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Wash. In 2012 he was deployed to Afghanistan as a senior line medic. He deployed to Suwon Air Base in South Korea in January 2017. He died there on Dec. 8, 2017.

Eric loved hiking, jogging, and exploring his surroundings, but his greatest love was spending time with his two sons, Hayden and Damian.

Eric is survived by his children, Hayden and Damian of Meridian, Idaho; father, Charles Schenck and wife, Tami, of Fair Play; mother, JoAnne Larson and husband, Ken, of Emmett, Idaho; sister, Chelsea Thompson and husband, Evan, of Reedsport, Ore.; stepbrother, Chris Denham of Fair Play; grandparents Charles and Donna Schenck of Nampa, Idaho; aunts: Trina Westberg and Tammy Chavez of Nampa, Idaho; aunt, Maureen Luther of Chester; uncle, Anthony Cahill of Renton, Wash.; uncle, Lester Cahill of Golden, Colo.; and numerous cousins.

A celebration of life with military honors was in Idaho.