Eight Bells: Eric A. Artman
Eric A. Artman, of Tiburon, California, departed on his final and eternal cruise on October 19, 2024, after lingering complications from surgery. Eric was born on December 22, 1956, to Dr. H. Dean Artman and Cornelia “Cozy” Green Artman in Jacksonville, Illinois, and grew up in Pittsfield, Illinois.
Eric had two great passions in life: the law and boating. He delighted in debating the fine details of jurisprudence and pontificating on obscure or arcane minutia with friends, family, and colleagues alike. He was an attorney skilled in working at the intersection of technology, business, and law. Over his professional career, he served as Executive Director of the Illinois Commerce Commission; Board Member of the State Bank of Auburn (Illinois), Director of Regulatory Affairs at MCI/WorldCom, MFS, and UUnet; and the last 7 years in private practice at Artman Law Office (Tiburon, Calif.).
Eric loved power boats in general and trawlers specifically, gladly admitting to being a “stinkpotter,” not a sailor, while he also acknowledged all pleasure boats are floating second mortgages or a hole in the water into which you throw money. Both of his trawlers, Cozy Lee and Henry Dean, were named after his parents, who preceded him in death. Eric’s love of boating was launched at a young age navigating the Mississippi River on his parents’ pontoon boats and further developed on Caribbean cruises with his parents during high school (Pittsfield, Illinois) and college and law school at the University of Illinois. He continued cruising on his own boat or cruise ships his entire adult life.
His proudest achievement was being elected Commodore in 2013 at the Corinthian Yacht Club (Tiburon, California), where he was a member for 28 years. When he was not on the water, he wanted to see the water, either from his house, the deck at a yacht club, or at a favorite water front “dive bar.” If you told him you were taking a cruise to the Caribbean or just driving around the San Francisco Bay Area, he would gladly recommend the best places to get lunch and a cold beer. He could be found dressed in a Hawaiian shirt enjoying lively conversations at the member’s bar at Corinthian Yacht Club or on his boat most weekends until mobility issues limited his boating activities.
Eric is survived by his sister, Barbee Swofford of Los Angeles, Calif.; his step-siblings Linda Smith (Richard) of Traverse City, Mich., Susan Moses (Michael) of Chicago, and Joan Benz (Don) of Payson, Ill.; his nieces and nephews Meemee Reynolds of Abington, Mass.; Stephen Swofford (Michelle) of Sherman Oaks, Calif.; and Sabrina Godinez (Juan) of Los Angeles, Calif.; and many great-nephews and nieces and extended family, with whom he loved spending time with at the Green Family Reunions. A celebration of life will be organized in Tiburon, California, in early 2025 and the following spring in Pittsfield, Illinois. In lieu of flowers, donations to your favorite charity or organization may be made in his honor.