KINGSTON — Prior to his death Jan. 9, Kingston resident Eric "Rick" de Boer had some convinced he was the eye-patch-wearing guitarist Rich Williams from the rock band Kansas.
An obituary sent to area newspapers Jan. 15 said the Kingston man used the stage name Rich Williams "when he played for 'Kansas' for 22 years. The obituary also said he wrote the popular song "Carry On Wayward Son."
But the real Rich Williams is alive and well — living in Atlanta and still performing. And Kerry Livgren wrote "Carry On Wayward Son."
Williams said he'd been aware of de Boer for about five years, but doesn't recall ever meeting him in person.
"It rang a bell that some guy was pretending to be me, but I had forgotten about it," Williams said. "Obviously, he had some people quite convinced."
De Boer often told friends and acquaintances that he was Williams, according to Lorna Scione of Hampstead, who said she knew de Boer for about a year.
"I don't know if it's true or not," she said. "He told us he played in the band, and basically that was about it."
The obituary was flagged by The Eagle-Tribune's obituary department, and it was discovered that de Boer was not the rocker he claimed to be.
The obituary was briefly published on legacy.com, an online obituary database, with the incorrect information. It was corrected less than a day after it was posted, according to a spokeswoman for Wiggin-Purdy-McCooey-Dion, the Dover funeral home that handled de Boer's arrangements.
According to his corrected obituary, de Boer was a Marine who served in the Vietnam War and was a POW for four years. He was 57.
Williams is still the lead guitarist for Kansas. The band plays about 80 dates a year, and is preparing to shoot a DVD in the coming days, Williams said Friday.
He said he was mystified by de Boer's behavior.
"It makes you wonder why," he said. "I guess he was just a lost soul."
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