Samuel Eric “Eric” Kane, 84, passed away Monday, October 14, 2019 peacefully at home. He was the beloved husband of Fatima (Fernandes) Kane.
Born in Rawalpindi, India, he was a son of the late Esmond and Daisy (Julian) Kane. From Rawalpindi (which after India’s independence in 1947 became part of Pakistan), his family moved upon his father’s transfer in the Army to Jabalpur, India, where he graduated from St. Aloysius High School (affiliated with the University of Cambridge) in 1951. He then moved to Byculla in Mumbai, India, where he worked on the Indian railway.
After his mother’s passing, he moved to Parasia, India to be with his father, who was transferred there in 1960. In Parasia he opened his own electronic repair shop. After his father’s passing, he moved to Nagpur, India in 1966 and worked for Vijay Trading Company as an electronic technician. There he met, courted and married Fatima in 1970, who was his wife for nearly 50 years. They raised their two children, Esmond and Royston, until they moved to Rhode Island in 1979. It was then that he became an active member of St. Kevin Parish.
In the U.S., he worked as an electronic technician at Elwin TV starting in 1979 until his retirement in 2002. Retirement afforded him the opportunity to spend more time on his hobbies, being an avid gardener, a MacGyver-like fix-it man, and an incredible self-taught guitarist across a wide range of musical genres. Eric was known for a witty sense of humor, his grandpa jokes, and his love of Judge Judy. What he enjoyed more than anything else, however, was being the chauffeur to his adoring grandchildren.
He was the devoted father of Esmond Kane and his wife, Kimberly, and Royston Kane and his wife, Glenis; loving grandfather of Alexis, Sarah, Benjamin and Sophie Kane; brother of Anthony Kane and the late Patrick and Gabriel Kane; and stepbrother of the late Joseph and Matilda Franklin. He was loved by a host of family and friends in India, Australia, Canada and United Arab Emirates.
His funeral will be held Saturday, October 19 at 9 a.m. from Thomas & Walter Quinn Funeral Home, 2435 Warwick Avenue, with a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Kevin Church, Sandy Lane, at 10 a.m. Burial will be in St. Joseph Cemetery, West Greenwich. Visiting hours are Friday, Oct. 18 from 4-8 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to St. Kevin Church, 333 Sandy Lane, Warwick, RI 02889 would be appreciated.
