A Tribute to Eric "Bald-E" Quirouet

Reflections from a friend

We share the loss felt by family and friends on the recent passing of Eric Quirouet, long-time USDAA supporter and judge.  March 24th would have been Eric’s 69th birthday.

Eric became a judge in late 2005, judging more than 120 events over 11 years, becoming a most sought-after judge. He judged at Cynosport® in 2014 and 2015, before retiring from judging in 2016. Following onset of the pandemic, Eric returned to dog agility to help with course designs and judging for USDAA@Home! in 2021 and 2022.  

As competitors, judges, and show organizers, we see a lot of the same people week after week, becoming acquaintances and sometimes even friends, but we never really get an opportunity to know much about those people. We reached out to one of Eric’s closest friends Frank Holik, who was glad to share more about Eric.

Frank writes,

It was 1999 when I first met Eric at a USDAA trial in Montpelier, Ohio.  I’m guessing it was mid to late October as it was very cold, and back then, most if not all agility trials were held outdoors. Everyone was bundled up, and here was this large lumbering man walking around in a Gold’s Gym tank top and baggy zebra striped pants—the kind of pants you would see MC Hammer wearing.

At some point during the day, I went up to Eric and asked, “aren’t you cold”? He replied with that good old Eric chuckle, “I’m freezing my ass off, but if I put a coat on now, people will think I’m a wimp”. And that’s how our friendship began!

Eric’s family moved to Michigan from Canada and he spent his entire life living in the Detroit area. Eric met a young lady named Debbie when entering high school, and a year after graduating high school, Eric married his high school sweetheart, who became his lifelong companion. 

I remember Debbie telling me stories of the early days in their marriage. Eric was a tall, skinny kid with long hair. Yep, the guy we all affectionately called "Bald-E" once had hair down just past his shoulders. He also had a Harley-Davidson motorcycle that Debbie loved to ride on with him. The only problem Debbie had on their rides together was that Eric’s long hair would keep hitting her in the face. She told me, “When we used to ride, I had to wear these goggles that looked like a scuba mask so Eric’s hair wouldn’t hit me in my eyes. I looked like a damn fool”. 

One of Eric’s passions when he was younger was powerlifting. I guess that explains the Gold’s Gym tank top and MC Hammer pants! He didn’t go to the gym to work out; he went to the gym to lift and lift heavy! I’m not sure when the tall, skinny kid turned into the Incredible Hulk, but it happened.

Having a love for animals and wanting to be a groomer, Debbie began taking grooming classes, and Eric soon followed. Sometime in the mid 90’s they took their savings, rented a space in a small strip center, and opened their own grooming salon—Shear Delight. Debbie and Eric worked side by side for years, along with the help of Debbie’s mom.

Grooming was just part of Eric’s life. Eric worked at the salon in the mornings through the afternoon. He would then go home to get ready for his other job with a steel company in Detroit as a bridge crane operator where he would offload steel beams, columns, coils and sheet steel from flatbed trailers and rail cars. Along with being the crane operator, he was also the shop’s union steward. He was the one that would negotiate grievances between shop workers and management. He was often invited to annual union meetings in Chicago, saying in his humorous way that they wanted him to be there as a bouncer just in case anything got out of hand. Thankfully for him, or maybe I should say, the other people, nothing ever happened. 

After years of climbing the 25-foot ship’s ladder to the crane control cab, the multiple climbs per day began to take its toll on Eric’s knees, and he had to retire from the steel factory.  

Eric once again followed Debbie into something. They both fell in love with dog agility, and then soon, everyone fell in love with them. Debbie started with her Jack Russell Arby and Eric with his Lab-mix Merlin.

Debbie and Eric were mainstays at trials in Michigan and Ohio. If they weren’t there to help set up on the Friday before the trial, you could always count on them to be there late Sunday to help pack it all up. One of our favorite trials was held in Montpelier, Ohio. I had been going there for a couple of years and had the same parking site for every trial. Debbie and Eric got to the site on Friday before I did and thought it would be funny to park in my spot. He put his van into park, opened the door, and before he could get both feet on the ground, show organizers Pete and Sal Mansel stopped him, saying, “You can’t park here, this is Frank’s spot”. So Eric started up the van and parked nearby.

When I got to the site, Eric made a beeline for me and in that ever so sarcastic way, he said, “Hey! Frank, I parked over there” pointing to his van, “is that OK”? He told me what happened, and we both laughed. For the longest time following this, he made a point of asking me if he was parked in the right place.

Once Debbie, Eric and I became the consummate agility handlers (at least in our own minds), we thought it would be fun to team together at the Dog Agility Masters® team tournament at USDAA’s Spring Festival in Lexington, Kentucky. Our team name was Merlin’s Magical Mystery Tour. We were decked out in tie-dyed T-shirts and sweatshirts with pictures of our dogs and a picture of Eric as the walrus Goo Goo G’joob!

We ended up in second place that year. Yep, second from last! But hey, we had a blast!

The most memorable moment for us was when Eric was running Team Jumpers with Merlin. They had a great run going when halfway through the course, Merlin decided to relieve himself. Debbie and I were ringside, looked at each other and at the exact same time, we ran back to our tents and changed out of our team shirts. Eric came back to the tent and was just laughing alongside us. It was from then on that we referred to Jumpers as “Dumpers”.

That was one of the great things about Eric—he could always laugh, even if it was at himself.

Eric really fell in love with agility and all the people associated with the sport and decided to become a judge. This is when the Bald-E show went nationwide!  I had moved out of Michigan by this time, but he would call me with judging questions, and I would send him all types of practice questions to help him prepare for the USDAA judging clinic. He became a judge, and it was not long before he was one of the most popular judges out there.  Everyone loved his courses, his attitude, and of course, the man himself.

A few years later (2016), the aches and pains from the mobility required in judging caught up to him. With Debbie having a few health issues of her own, Eric put Debbie’s needs before his own, like he had always done; so, he took a break from traveling and agility as a whole. At one point he was going to get back into judging, but then followed the Covid outbreak and lockdowns. He said it just wasn’t meant to be.

Eric was my best friend. Not only in agility, but in life overall. He knew my secrets and I knew his…and we still remained friends!  As difficult as this week has been with his passing, and as hard as this has been to write, I sit here smiling with tears in my eyes knowing I could write much, much, more.  Too many stories to share. Let me just say, Bald-E, my friend…you can have my parking spot any time you want!

In closing, I’ll give you one of Eric’s famous lines, “God only made a few perfect heads, the rest he put hair on!”  Now Eric is with God and Merlin running agility for evermore. 

Rest in peace and Happy Birthday my friend! Love you brother!
 —Your friend, Frank

We at USDAA extend our condolences to all of Eric’s friends and family.  Eric was a tremendous role model for the sport and will be fondly remembered by those fortunate to have known him.