Eric R. Witcher was born in Barr’d Islands in 1946. After graduating from high school there, he attended university, receiving a B.A. (Ed.) and a B.A. from Memorial University of Newfoundland, and a M.A. from California State University. He became a schoolteacher, spending most of his career in Lewisporte.

Eric is married to Ruth Vaters of Victoria, Carbonear. They have one child, Rosetta, who is married to Brian Lubbers of Calgary, where they reside.