Eric Carlson

A long time native of Long Island, Eric Gunner Carlson passed away peacefully at Saint Francis Hospital in Roslyn, NY on the morning of January 26, 2013. Carlson was born June 22, 1924 to Helen and Gunner Carlson. Both parents emigrated from Sweden and came to Glen Cove, NY in the early 1900’s. The family moved to Roslyn, NY in 1925, and Carlson attended the local schools where he was selected as an actor for the WPA Federal Theater Project in Roslyn. He graduated from Roslyn High School in 1941 and enrolled in Cornell University that fall. Carlson took a leave of absence from Cornell and entered the military in February of 1943 where he became a corporal with the 87th Division when he was transferred to the Air Corps. There, Carlson received his bombardier wings as a Second lieutenant at Victorville, California in June, 1944. Carlson served with the 351st Bomb Group in the 8th AAF in England during WWII, where he participated in 13 B-17 combat missions and received the Air Medal and the Medaille De la France Liberee. In September, 1945, Carlson returned to Cornell where he received a BS in Industrial Relations in 1948. From 1948-1955, Carlson was the first Executive Director of the Cornell University Associates, the industrial liason program for the ILR school at Cornell. Throughout the balance of his professional career, he was involved in various business development and not-for-profit fundraising capacities. Carlson served as the first Executive Director of the National Fund for Graduate Nursing Education in New York City. He also served as a Vice President of Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn prior to organizing Carlson Associates, Inc., a business development and public relations firm. He was also active in the early fund raising efforts for the North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York. In his later years, he was a real estate broker serving the greater Manhasset community. Throughout his life, Carlson was an avid golfer. The interest started in 1936 while caddying at the Munsey Park, Shelter Rock and Links Country Clubs. He was a former member of the Mill River Country Club, North Hempstead Country Club, and Manhasset Bay Yacht Club, where he sailed one of the first catamarans out of MBYC in 1958. Carlson was preceded in death by his parents and beloved sister Edith Hollister of Minnesota, formerly of Sea Cliff, New York. He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Anne Patricia, who still resides in Manhasset; their son, Eric Russell, daughter-in-law Joanna, also of Manhasset, and grandchildren Katherine Anne, Eric Joseph, and Alexia Anna Maria Carlson. Carlson is also survived by his two children from his first marriage, Lee Richard Carlson of Tulsa, Oklahoma, daughter-in-law Jane, and grandson Arthur Gunner Carlson; Ellen Snodgrass of Lattingtown, New York, son-in-law John Snodgrass, and grandchildren Lee Linnington and D’Arcy Lynne Snodgrass. Carlson will be buried with his Mother and Father in the Locust Valley Cemetery, arranged by the Roslyn Heights Funeral Home.

Eric Carlson

June 22, 1924 - January 26, 2013