Upholstery Professor James Eric Duvall, who retired this summer, died from cancer recently, according to his colleagues.

His family and friends said the charismatic and dedicated professor will be missed.

“He was always loving, caring, humorous, and just such a great person to be around,” Robin Duvall, his wife, said. “He always made you feel good about yourself.”

Duvall, who went by his middle name Eric, was also well-liked among his peers.

Dennis Lutz, an associate professor of drafting technologies, worked with Duvall and referred to him as an influential and underappreciated figure at Palomar.

“Eric had a tremendous amount of actual work experience in his field that he brought to the classroom. I know he did a lot of re-upholstery for the school, some library furniture and police cars just to name a few items,” Lutz said in an email.

Nancy Galli, a retired design and consumer education professor, said she met Duvall in his time at the design and consumer education department teaching furniture and automobile upholstery. She reminisced on his caring nature for his students and their careers.

“He had a following of people that stayed with him for many years and continued to build their skills under his leadership,” Galli said. “He was one of those caretaker people who took care of everyone else, I’m very sad that he’s gone.”

His dedication to the school was seen in his interactions with students and how he inspired them to go further into the career of upholstery. He worked with many of his students to get their work placed in the student showcase at the San Diego County Fair.

Karen Paretti, a former student of Duvall and now owner of an upholstering business, reached out in an email to share her gratitude for how Duvall fostered her love and desire to have a career in upholstering.

“He was so generous with his time and materials to all students,” she wrote. “There was no problem he could not solve. He could fix any situation flawlessly. We all learned so much from his expertise and teaching style that in fact many of us started our own businesses in the field.”