[11/14/02]Eric Smith fought the good fight, he finished the race and he kept the faith.

That is what Eddie and Shelia Smith said about their 16-year-old son whose eight-year battle with brain cancer ended Wednesday.

They were quoting 2 Timothy 4:7.

Eddie Smith said his son had a love for his church and a love for his Lord.

“He would ask friends if they knew Jesus Christ as their personal savior and he would say, I can sleep easier knowing that you’re a Christian and I will see you again.'”

Everyone who knew Eric knew what he stood for, Smith said.

“He loved people in general,” Smith said. “He enjoyed people, and people enjoyed him.”

Eric was first diagnosed when he was only 8 years old. The cancer recurred with a vengeance in 1999, but Eric did not give up. But the disease didn’t either, and the last few months have been a pitched battle. Eric, his dad said, was brave. “He took the strength that God gave him and gave it to his family,” Smith said.

Eric underwent treatments including chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants and spent time at the Ronald McDonald House and at the brain tumor center of Duke University in North Carolina and the Children’s Cancer Clinic in Jackson.

“We left no leaf unturned,” Smith said. His mother added, “We never left him alone; he never spent a night alone in the hospital.”

While planning their son’s funeral Wednesday afternoon, the Smiths made it clear their faith and their son’s was not their only source of strength.

“If it weren’t for Warren County helping Shelia and me, we wouldn’t have made it,” Smith said. “We want to thank the community as a whole. We thank everyone for their support, not only their financial support but for their prayers … for bringing us food and keeping our other two sons.” Smith said he thinks they have received prayer cards from every church in Vicksburg and Warren County.

Eric’s brothers Dustin, 14, and Brandon, 5, Shelia said, were very close with their older brother.

“They loved each other,” she said. “When Eric wasn’t supposed to have anything in his mouth when he was sick, Brandon would sneak to give him French fries and cookies and we’d come in and Eric would have cookie crumbs all over his shirt.”

Shelia said Dustin was helpful with his older brother especially when Eric was unable to get around as well.

Eddie Smith said Eric was also a prankster. Last Halloween, at a hospital in North Carolina, the nurses were dressing up as dalmatians from the movie “101 Dalmatians.” When Eric found out about the nurses’ plan, he decided to dress up as Cruella DeVil, the dalmatians’ nemesis in the movie.

Baseball was another great love in Eric’s life. A talented athlete and an honor student, he played on tournament teams and was an all-star. He especially looked up to Warren Central’s former head baseball coach Sam Temple.

“He was a wonderful young man,” Temple said. “He touched a lot of people’s lives.”

Though he did not get the opportunity to play for Temple, the two had a special bond. When Warren Central won the state championship in 2001, Temple gave his medal to Eric.

“He was a fighter, he always stayed positive,” Temple said. “I know he’s in a wonderful place.”

A few summers ago, Eric threw the first pitch at a Warren Central-Vicksburg High ballgame and later at a Jackson DiamondKats’ game.

“Eric was a big-time supporter of Warren Central athletics,” said Randy Broome, head baseball coach for Warren Central. “He was a great kid from a great family. It is a sad day at Warren Central.”

Perhaps Broome described Eric best when he said, “We try to teach the kids to give the opposing team everything you’ve got and Eric did that in his life. He showed others what a fighter he was. He never gave up and he never stopped.”

Riles Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements and there will be visitations Friday night and Saturday morning. The funeral for Eric will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at his church, Woodlawn Baptist.