Tribute

It is with sadness and broken hearts that we share the news of Ed’s passing in the early morning of December 28. Ed celebrated his 94^th birthday on December 20^th and was just a few days into his 95^th year when he died.

Ed is remembered lovingly and will be missed tremendously by his wife of 69 years, Lucy; daughter Suzan; son-in-law Bob; granddaughters Katie and Laura. Ed and Lucy’s son Eddy-Mark died in 1982 at the young age of 25 years. This was the saddest day of his life. The happiest days of his life were his wedding day and the births of their children and granddaughters.

Ed was born in Edmonton Alberta to immigrant parents of Ukrainian heritage. His father died when Ed was a very young child. Ed’s only memory of his father was holding his father’s hand as they waited for a bowl of soup in a Salvation Army Soup line. His mother, a single parent raised Ed and his siblings. Growing up in poverty, Ed was required to work at odd jobs to help his mother support the family. Although his early years were difficult, Ed ultimately had a very long, rich and happy life full of wonderful and exciting experiences.

Ed and Lucy married in 1952. They were a fun-loving couple, lifelong partners and a team right to the very end. They laughed every day and always treated each other with affection, kindness and respect. They loved to socialize with their multitude of friends, sharing good food, drink, stories and laughter. In their early years of marriage, they enjoyed curling with friends, inviting friends to their lake cottage to water ski in the summer and skate on the frozen lake in the winter, hosting parties and dancing the night away. In Ed’s last few months, Ed and Lucy continued to enjoy singing along to country music and dancing in the kitchen. Ed and Lucy enjoyed sports and for many years held season tickets to the Edmonton Football Club and Edmonton Oilers, meeting with friends before or after the game. Ed was a sportsman, enjoying the outdoors, fishing and hunting. Every Fall it was his tradition to go hunting with his friends, appreciating the beauty of the Prairie autumn colors and crisp Fall air.

Ed was a successful businessman, land developer, realtor and real estate appraiser. Together, Ed and Lucy built a very successful business that became one of the largest appraisal companies in Western Canada. Ed’s firm specialized in the appraisal of commercial, industrial, agricultural and higher density residential properties. Ed also served many terms as the President of the Edmonton Real Estate Board. Ed was highly respected by his peers and recognized throughout North America for his work as an appraiser, completing work throughout all of Canada, the Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories, the United States and Mexico. Ed’s work was also highly respected by the legal community. Recognized as an expert witness in the field of real estate appraisal, Ed was called upon regularly by the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta. Ed’s work was often the deciding factor in many landmark cases.

Ed was a highly accomplished trapshooter and Olympian, competing in the 1969 Olympics in Mexico City. He blazed the trail for Canada’s Olympic trapshooting team and was recognized by the Shooting Federation of Canada for his outstanding contributions to the sport of trapshooting in Canada. He was Coach of the Canadian Olympic Trapshooting Team and took the team to the Olympics in Los Angeles (1984), Seoul (1988), and Barcelona (1992). Ed was also the coach for the Olympics in Moscow (1980). Ed was a gold medalist in several Provincial, Canadian and World Trapshooting Championships. In 1982 Ed was invited to participate in a trapshooting event with members of the British Royal Family and the King of Greece. Trapshooting took Ed and Lucy to almost every corner of the earth and allowed them to make friends in each country they travelled to. The trapshooting community became their second family, and over the course of all these years, they continued to maintain close friendships with many of the Canadian trapshooters and others from around the world.

Ed and Lucy retired to Salt Spring Island 34 years ago. Ed absolutely loved Salt Spring and their community of friends and neighbours. In his retirement Ed followed his passion for fishing and enjoyed many early mornings on his boat with friends and family. Ed and Lucy built a beautiful home with an expansive view overlooking the ocean. They enjoyed gardening, and together created a vegetable garden and small orchard. Ed loved all animals big and small and it brought him great joy to observe wildlife on their property. Ed was a master award-winning carver. While retired he focused on his wood carving, mentoring other carvers, and gifting his carvings of birds to charities, friends, and family.

Ed loved his granddaughters beyond words and was so very proud of Katie and Laura. Ed was a devoted grandfather who loved to spend time playing crib with Katie and Laura, making Caesar salad with Laura, and sharing stories about his life. The family spent many summer holidays on Salt Spring Island. During this time Ed taught Katie and Laura how to fish, sharing his wisdom, problem solving and patience required to bring in the big catch. Ed named his Boston Whaler fishing boot, “Katie Laura” and was always so proud to introduce the namesakes of “Katie Laura” to his fishing and boating friends.

Ed became independent at a very early age, and his determination to remain independent and self-sufficient was evident throughout his entire life. He was a kind and generous gentleman who over the years shared his life experiences, lessons and wisdom with his children and grandchildren. He was a very hard-working man, and it was important to him that he succeed with each task he was challenged with. He was an analytic and critical thinker that allowed him to solve problems with ease. Ed was a risk taker and was not afraid of any challenge presented to him. He was competitive with himself and others, and was very proud of his life achievements. He was always optimistic about life and recognized the good in everyone. Ed will be remembered for his sense of humour, kindness, generosity, loyalty, and an exceptional life well lived.

The family would like to express their thanks and gratitude to the multitude of people who provided care, support and compassion during Ed’s difficult journey. Their support allowed Ed to remain in his home for as long as possible and without question contributed to facilitating Ed’s quality of life as best possible. Our heartfelt thanks go to Dr. Ronald Reznick, Jean and Margaret, Island Health Palliative Support Team (Jan, You Yau, Elizabeth), Anastasia and all Home Care Support Workers, Selene and staff at NexGen Hearing, and all staff on the Acute Care Unit Lady Minto Hospital, Salt Spring Island. Finally, enough cannot be said about the tremendous support given to Ed and Lucy by their very close and dear neighbours and friends.

A private family funeral will be held in the future.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Salvation Army in memory of Edward John Shaske would be appreciated.