Edd Bryce

My Dad was born on Dec 7th, 1947, as Edward Bryce Jr. He was born to Mary Brown and Edward Bryce Sr. He was born in Sheffield, England, much to his chagrin, because as a proud Scottish man he didn’t want anyone to know that it actually said England as his place of birth. He was there a very short time before spending most of the first year of his life in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The reason his parent’s scuffled off to England for a few months, was because they were not yet married; which lead so some other complications that landed them headed them off to Toronto Canada the following year. They actually arrived in Halifax on Dad’s first birthday, Dec, 7th 1948. The three of them made a home in Toronto for another couple years before Mary Bryce took her wee son, Eddie (which is what he was called all through his early childhood) back to Edinburgh where they were to be reunited with her two older children from her previous marriage, Moira and Bill, who had been living with her sister Grace, and her husband.

They actually stayed there for a few years before heading back to join Edward Bryce Sr. in Toronto. They arrived back shortly before Eddie turned ten. My Dad also had another half-sister on his father’s side, her name was Edna and she was about 6 years older than my Dad. She lived most of her life in Nottingham, England, though she lived with Dad and his family for about a year when she was 16, in Toronto. I got to visit her once in the summer of 97, sadly she passed from cancer at 59 just a few years later.

My Dad didn’t talk about his childhood very much. Only that his best childhood memories were when he lived in the home of his Auntie Grace, in Edinburgh, she and her husband had never had any children of their own. And he spent the rest of his childhood wishing that he could go back there. Once he became a teenager and got more strength and freedom, his best adventures included hearing great music acts in Toronto.

This was around the time my Dad met Bruce Turner and his brothers. Music and poetry were great escapes for my Dad as well as a few other “items” he was introduced to. He began exploring the Hippie movement of the late 60’s and embraced “make love not war” and being a lover not a fighter…at which time he decided to spell his name with 2 d’s…so was Edward...minus the war…was “Ed…no war…d”..Edd with 2’s.

He also loved spending time with animals, riding his motorcycle, learning photography and dreaming of heading west. Right at the end of the 60’s he did exactly that and found himself in Harrison Hot Springs.

He ended up living in a Hippie communal house right on the lake, he was 22 years old. Soon after that he met a young lady by the name of Gloria Butchart, her father was the Fire Chief of the entire Chilliwack District, and with the last name Butchart she surely could teach him a few things about gardening. Dad got really good at growing abundant homegrown crops, and a few to many people knew it (ummmmm;) Dad never had any problem making lots of friends because he was a sharing kind of guy.

Edd and Gloria were married in the early August of 1970 and a few weeks later they headed back east to Toronto. By late spring 1971 they were back in Harrison hot springs were they opened and ran an arts and crafts shop selling creations and pieces of local artisans. They lived behind the store on the water front until shortly before their daughter was born.

In the spring of 1971 my Dad convinced his best buddy from Toronto Bruce Turner to swing by Harrision on his way back to Ontario from a trip to California. Bruce never left, and he met his future spouse Maureen, to whom he’s now been married to for 42 years.

They then moved to another beautiful lake, Cultus Lake by Chilliwack, the winter they became parents. Edd became a father on January 3rd, 1972 when Feather Lee was born. He told me that the scariest moment of his life was when he saw me turning blue because I wasn’t breathing right away…then the doctor gave me a good smack and he said I instantly turned pink as I screamed…and he said “it was the grooviest thing he’d ever seen”.

A few months later we all moved to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island for Dad’s work, we didn’t stay there very long because of a scary incident my Dad found himself in. He retold the story to me recently. He was out drinking with a few buddies and when he left by himself he saw a guy being beat up by a whole gang of island thugs. Instead of soberly thinking of going back into the bar for back up…he figured he could take them all on himself. He was beaten unconscious, unrecognizable, teeth knocked out, ribs broken and lucky to be alive. When he recovered they headed quickly to Quatsino sound to work for a long winter. At the heart of this story is my Dad who was willing to give the shirt off his own back to help someone out or a few teeth out of his mouth.

The spring of 1974 found them back near here in Popkum. That was the last place we all lived together. Just after I turned 3, my mom moved with me to Chilliwack and my Dad moved back to Harrision and at first he shared a home with some friends.

Even though I didn’t live consistently with my dad anymore, I saw him lots through my childhood and I have many wonderful and amazing memories growing up with him. Fairly quickly he found a great home in a little farm house on 20 acres on Cameron road in Agassiz. It had a glow at night from the Kent prison maximum security lights in the not so far distance, which he didn’t mind because he figured it helped keep the rent really low for decades, which allowed him to save through the year to head to Belize every winter. He use to also joke that if there was a prison break, they were less likely to stop at the first place they saw.

My dad was known for his parties, some have even referred to him as being legendary in these parts and these parties of his being rather epic. I remember bands playing on hay wagons with speakers stacked on either side; Badminton in the front yard, horse shoe games, hammocks hung and always a campfire. There was rarely a summer weekend without a campfire jam after a long hard day of windsurfing on Harrison Lake. Dad was also a cofounder of the Harrison windsurfing society that hosted many regattas.

Dad started Thanksgiving dinner at the Harrison community hall, called The Beggars Banquets, intended for people who didn’t have families to spend the holidays with. Eventually word spread and the parties grew each thanksgiving as people ditched their families to join my Dads party. I found a few of the tickets around dads things…one said 12th annual Beggars Banquet in 1985.

The first time Dad went to Belize was January 1977…this winter was his 40th anniversary of going to Belize in the winter. He missed 2 winters the entire 4 decades. He fell in love with Caye Caulker and it became his second home. That’s where he was first introduced to windsurfing and he was one of the first to windsurf Harrison Lake. That’s when he got really good at it because he hated falling into the freezing cold water here. He got a dry suit very quickly and taught many of his friends how to windsurf. He even tried to teach me….trying to learn on Harrison Lake with no wet suit and very little upper body strength was not my idea of a good time. But I wanted to spend time with my Dad, so he taught me how to sail on the board with him and I did so from when I was 9 until I was 18.

I got to lean back on the sail and enjoy the wind in my hair along side my dad. That was pretty cool…especially when we fell in. Yikes!!

Weekends with my dad always involved lots of visiting, fun, beach, campfires, music, movies and fun. We also liked watching tv together, but Dad hated the commercials. He invented his own mute switch around 1978, we called it the clicker. He wired it to the sound wires and ran it under the couch cushions to where we were sitting, whenever there were commercials we’d click off the sound. Dad was delighted when he could set recordings on his VHS recorder and he’d never watch anything real time so he could not only not hear the commercials he could also fast forward them. In more recent years he loved his PVR for this same reason…only now he wouldn’t have to set every recording, it would just remember his favourite programs.

Some of our favourite shows to watch together were Faulty Towers and Mr. Bean. I remember laughing so hard watching Mr. Bean with my dad we had tears rolling down our cheeks. Mr Bean never grew old for us…we’d always laugh just as much every time. In more recent years we made a point of going to the Mr. Bean movies in the theatre together.

Dad loved his hockey and even though he was a Toronto Maple leafs fan as a lad…he was a faithful Vancouver Canucks fan through his adult life. When he first went to Caye Caulker one of the things he like the most was that there was no TV on the island…but in recent years he admittedly loved being able to watch hockey on a huge flat screen in an open air bar on the Caye.

Dad worked in construction and carpentry for most of his career. He officially got his carpentry papers in 1987, he worked hard for this accomplishment. He also studied hard to get his industrial first aid and to maintain it for many years. The last 13 years or so Dad worked for Western Rubber where he appreciated his employment but Dad was always working for the winter. Some people worked for the weekend, my Dad worked for the winter in Belize. Most years he left the first week of January, after my birthday, and was back by Easter. Some winters a little less and some a little more.

He learnt the fine Art of working hard and playing hard, or working hard and resting even harder. It was all about balance for my Dad; the peace and serenity that comes with the sense of satisfaction from applied effort and achievement and being able to give yourself a break and take the time to smell the roses. He wrapped it all up in two words, the island catch phrase that became is life motto, GO SLOW. Dad was also one of the Founders and leaders of the “PILLs” on the island, it stood for “Pioneers In Leisure Living”.

There were many things my Dad loved along the way; I’ve mentioned a few obvious ones like windsurfing, gardening and music. But he also loved hiking and hang gliding for awhile. I even found a poem he had published in a hang gliding magazine. But after he was present for a fatal crash of two fellow gliders he decided that windsurfing was safer and held much the same thrill and appeal for him.

He loved all of the pets he had but his most favourite was his dog her had through the early 70’s that he simply called Red dog, because he was a red settler cross. He also had a favourite black cat he called Maggie May when I was 8-13 years old and a bird named Tekal when I was in my teen years. But he always had his huge fish tank that he’d re-set up every spring when he’d return after winter. It would remind him of Caye Caulker and it’s reef until he could return again.

My Dad had many lady friends and lovely ladies in his life but only a few great loves; loves lost but that he always cherished and held close to his heart. My Mom, Gloria, Shelley who he dated from when I was 7-11 years old and Chris who he met in Belize the winter of 88/89 I believe. They were together 7 years and he held on to what they once had until the end.

Ultimately he had no lingering life regrets. He confidently spoke about having a life well lived. He felt that he’d wished he’d had more time but he was thankful for the good health he had right until the end. After adding up all his months in Belize, it totalled over ten years he’d spent on the quaint Caribbean island in the Gulf of Mexico that had stolen his heart so many decades ago. He believed that he’d done it right, by having those ten years of “retirement” when he was fit and young and could enjoy windsurfing and the island life to the full. He created an island Family there, With Orlando being like the father he always deserved to have and Sal like his island son. There were locals and others who returned every winter like him, who were an incredibly important part of his life. When Orlando passed away from cancer almost four years ago, it was harder for him to lose Orlando than any of his family of origin.

He asked me to make sure that a portion of his remains were scattered on the caye in Belize, which was his second home and was the resting place for his soul even when he was alive with us, and another portion here on Harrision lake, where he truly discovered himself, where I came to be and so many lifelong friendships were built that still remain; Both are the waters where which he sailed countless hours.

My Dads ashes will be spread where he loved and was loved but mostly he will remain where we loved him the most, which is in our hearts.

My Dad had such a generous heart. He loved giving gifts. Now he was a frugal man but not a cheap man; he never arrived at your home or to a party empty handed. It was either flowers from his garden, a stash from his home grown patch, a mixed tape of music, or more recently a cd he burned or a flash drive of movies he down loaded.

He always had a great ear for music. I remember when I was about ten I told him I got a Corey Hart tape, he handed me music of a Canadian young man named Bryan Adams, he said “You watch out for this guy, he writes his own stuff and he’s really going somewhere”. Christmas of 91 he told me to “ignore the bands name and just listen to these guys from Toronto, now they were on to something but might need to change their name, the Barenaked Ladies”, he was right, but they never did change their name. Spring of 95 he gives me a cd from an up and coming female Canadian artist that he thinks has something special that I’d like, Alanis Morisette’s album “Jagged little pill” became my anthem album of the year.

In recent years, every season of the voice my he’d texted me his top picks for the finals for the singing TV show the voice…he always had the winner in his top three. We were watching it again just two night before his passing…Chris Blue was his favourite this season from the start.(weeks after Dad passed Chris Blue did win the show.)

When he hosted parties there was always the good stuff, good company, good tunes, good beer, the really good stuff and there was always a potluck. He either had Jean bring her beans or he made Jeans beans and brought them himself. There were certain foods Dad loved, chicken strips, fish and chips, Shreddies cereal, his tea with honey and milk and habitant pea soup. He also loved his sweet treats and Canada dry gingerale. He liked a cold beer, Belikin on the island, and Sleemans ale shifted into second after Grolsh beer more recently. When he found something he liked he usually stuck with it. He was somewhat of a creature of habit, he had his morning routine, his usual afternoon nap and never missed hockey. He went to bed at the same time every work night and woke extra early so he’d never be rushed in the morning, he always liked to take it easy and Go slow.

Dad disliked being rushed and driving in the city. He also disliked beef and pork. He hated war and people who created drama and chaos. He found a groove for himself that brought him peace, comfort, calm and stability. He didn’t like the cold and gloom of winter, seasonal depression would creep in, it’s why he never stuck around here too long. He created a piece of garden paradise where ever he lived; His gardens on Caye Caulker and most recently around the Pelicano restaurant owned by Mike and Vel. He loved to be surrounded by living things, plants, gardens, fish in his 75 gallon fish tank and pet; even if he had to borrow the pets from his neighbours, and of course people too. He loved socializing but he also loved his own space. He was equally an extrovert and introvert I believe and he needed a good balance of both to maintain his inner peace and calm.

Even though the last time he headed to Belize last early November, he did refer to Caye Caulker as home, he never could stay away to long because his home was where his heart was and his heart was with me and his granddaughters, Carmelle and Cadence. Being a Dad was a true delight of his life and being a granddad to my daughters was even more delightful for him.

My Dad, Edd was: Kind but stubborn, frugal but generous, laid back but passionate, hard working but free spirited, tender hearted but quick tempered, welcoming but with boundaries, he was easy going until he wasn’t and he was always up for a good time…unless he needed a nap first;) He always loved his naps!

(In his final months, weeks and days…)

Last July 2016 Dad officially retired from Western Rubber in Richmond. He finished his retirement pay out at the end of December. He got to enjoy most of the summer without working. The girls and I enjoyed two campouts with him on the acreage. His granddaughters will miss their campouts with their grandpa the most. The last two summers my husband Mark and his sons Joshy and Noah would join us and Dad loved to see us all together as one big happy family of 6. He joked that we were like a mini Brady bunch, with them darker and us all blond, the kids all the same ages but my oldest one in curls.

We celebrated Halloween and Christmas with Dad at the same time this year before he headed off to Belize earlier than usual this winter. He was excited to celebrate his 69th birthday there, as he’d only had a couple birthdays over all the years down there. He was also looking forward to an island Christmas and New Year.

Towards the end of January he said that he started to feel more and more tired. He didn’t want to concern anyone, and didn’t want any word sent home to me as he knew there would be nothing for me to do but worry and he knew I had enough on my plate with the recent passing of my ex husband; the father of his only grandchildren.

He became more concerned about his health through February as he became lethargic and was sleeping more than he was awake and he was unable to get himself out to do things he normally loved doing. His persistent cough became worse and worse and then fevers started. Mike and Vel and others were concerned for him and urging him to seek medical advice. Finally with their increased persistence he agreed to see a doctor on the island. The resources were limited and they weren’t sure what they were dealing with. They treated dad with antibiotics and B6 and B12 injection, which likely saved his life during that time. After blood work results came through in the first week of March the doctor urgently advised Mike and Vel to get Dad home. Due to the state of Dads health and the fevers, which we found out later were being caused mostly from profound pneumonia, he had found himself mostly in a state of delirium and almost to the point of losing consciousness regularly. Mike and Vel did everything they could to get Dad home as soon as possible.

On Wednesday March 15th, after many tests, my Dad was told that he had advanced, terminal lung cancer that had spread extensively through his body and that he didn’t have much time. After that initial information he didn’t want to know more because he didn’t want to focus on the negative and dying, he wanted to focus on the positive and living. He wasn’t in denial, he knew the truth; he just decided to hope and believe in a miracle. So I did everything I could to support that. Though I did encourage all of his friends to come and see him as soon as they could. He made the best of his circumstances and he greatly appreciated the care he received at peace arch hospital for the two weeks while they stabilized his pneumonia and bought him some more time. He loved all the visits from friends and loved ones. He re-read the wonderful encouraging and caring emails he received from the island and around the world. We had the opportunity to leave nothing unsaid and love freely expressed which I will always cherish.

We had the difficult conversations, as well as the heart felt ones and silly/fun ones. There were still jokes and humor. One of the biggest laughs being when I came in after his morning shower in the hospital and he told me that he didn’t know how to turn the water off after his shower so he buzzed for a nurse, only she didn’t know either, so they got second nurse and then a third…I said …geez Dad sounds like a great head line of a joke …how does Edd Bryce get three nurses in the shower with him…I joked with him that next time he’d have to figure out how to get four nurses in there with him. LOL

Dad wanted his final time to be at his home, so a team rallied to make this possible; Including the great palliative hospice team at peace arch hospital. Although Dad would have wanted much more time, there were certain things that he really wanted for the end of his life and I believe he got all of these things. He wanted to be able to sit on his patio outside and feel the warmth of spring arrive. He wanted to hear the birds chirp with the sound of the little Campbell river babbling in the background while he sipped a beer. He wanted to watch hockey on his new big HD smart TV with friends, and enjoy his medical chair that would fully recline and help him up, while enjoying the build in heat and massage. He wanted us to be able to spend as much quality time together that we could and I basically moved in with him during that time. We enjoyed watching our favourite show The Voice together, that he had recorded on PVR through the winter of course, and his other favourites like the TV drama Elementary and the Rick Mercer report and many laughs watching Just for Laughs gags. We cried together while we watched the movie, Mr. Church, which he would urge you all to see with Kleenex. We also loved watching the movie Hidden figures and the Beatles documentary done by Ron Howard; they were all must sees according to Dad.

For his final time here, He also wanted his independence until the end and wanted to be able to still communicate. He didn’t want to suffer in pain, which he didn’t and he only had some minor pain in the final few days which was easily managed with moderate medication. He didn’t want to be in a coma in the end and he wanted me there beside him in the end. I sensed his time was very near on Tuesday April 11th, at which time I decided to have him move to the peace arch hospice where they could make him much more comfortable.

My Dads resilient spirit and positive attitude, shown through to the end, as He commented on the lovely room and the beautiful view of the ocean. He thanked the nurses for their wonderful care as they prepared him for his night sleep. He and I had a lovely, deep and meaningful talk about love and life and the after life.

I told my Dad in then again that I believe that the God who created him and knew him better than anyone was preparing the perfect heavenly place for him for all of eternity, which for him I told him would be the most amazing tropical paradise and that he’d have a young strong body to windsurf those waters into majestic sunsets with warmth of the son basking down on him and when he was done with that there would be the most comfort hammock to lounge around in. I believe heaven is a combination of all the things we loved the most on earth brought together for our eternal delight because Jesus delights in His children. Even much more so than my Dad even delighted in us, his girls.

I gave my Daddy a hug and kiss good night, while I told him I loved him so much. He also returned the same. In my heart I sensed that he wouldn’t make it through the night and 13 hours after arriving in the hospice, my Dad, Edd Bryce peacefully took his last breaths in his restful sleep, with me by his side.

I still talked to him and held him. I told him that he was there when I took my first breaths and I was there for his last. I assured him that he would be missed but that we were going to be okay as he rested in peace. I stayed with him and then got the nurse. It was right around 5am, Wednesday April 12th, 2017.

I called Genisea and Al and they came to be with me until the funeral home could come for Dad. We held his hand and said prayers and shared wonderful memories about him.

I believe my dad accepted his invitation to this eternal and glorious heaven and I believe we will be reunited with him there when it's our time.

Dad always played the lottery, by buying lottery tickets and he always believed he would win before he died but I told him, he did win! He won at the lottery of life because he chose to invest in the things that really mattered, he made it happen because he chose love.

He chose as a young man to rise above his circumstances and do better that what he was shown. He created a life full of delights and highlights, personal victories and triumphs.

He had discovered that the Purpose for life was to connect with other people. He made many cards that he sent out over the years, keeping connected.

His voicemail recorded message that would always say “I don't know where I am so leave a message.” I am assured that I do know where he is now and I will see him again one day.

My dad was the strongest person I've ever known and this is why; even when he was never encouraged and never told he was worthy when he was young he was always was able to give me a word of encouragement and lift me up.

Even when he was never hugged and embraced; he always cuddled and hugged, me every chance he got.

Even when he was never told he was loved; he told me he love me all the time.

Even though he was put down; he always built me up.

Even though he was told he wasn’t worth anything; he always told me he was proud of me.

He was able to rise above his circumstances and take me up with him; build me up with him.

Even when he was told he would never amount to anything he made me believe there wasn't anything I couldn’t do.

He fought hard to have a true, noble and resilient spirit.

What an honour for all of us to have known him.

This was written by Chris and Cathi C. for Dads 60th Birthday December 7th, 2007.

“Awwww Jeeeeeeeeeesssss”

It’s the consummate Edd expression in all the years I’ve known him. It fits him…(no, I won’t go to the EH stuff, too trite).

He’s a guy that moves a bit slow, but always in the right direction.

He takes his time…no doubt it comes from the old expression of the classic carpenter,measure 3 times, cut ONCE…

Edd always cuts it, he is always there to help, to plan, to hammer, to saw, to build it… whatever IT may be. It gets done, eventually, and done right.

He’s been a friend for almost 3 decades now, doesn’t seem possible he could actually be that old…but HE IS!….60! God help him…

Cathi and I have always valued his devotion to OUR house in Belize, even though everyone refers to it as, Edd’s House….very irritating though it may be, he’s done so much for both us and THE HOUSE that it’s difficult to argue about that point sometimes. The Caye has become used to seeing the HATTED one on the porch watching over Front Street for so many years. It’s a natural fit. I think the only unnatural thing he’s done is to instigate water balloon wars and hang the Maple Leaf flag from MY House while I’m not there!

I forgive him for such transgressions. I thank him when I am there for the great kitchen, the bedrooms, the repairs he’s diligent about each year. I don’t forgive him so much for the mass of unused windsurfing equipment and rat’s nest foam material that so overloads the bedroom ceiling all the time.

But I actually wish he would get his OLD ass out onto the water more often, because it was he and old pal Pierre that really brought windsurfing to the Caye so very long ago. Remember, he’s 60! But with his Harrison Hot Springs boards and equipment he single handedly made windsurfing a real sport and pastime on Caye Caulker, Belize. He dragged neighbor Orlando out onto the waves and taught many people to balance and turn in a patient way that allowed them to become good at the sport without ending up on the reef too many times. Orlando became the first person to board sail from Caye Caulker to San Pedro and back.

A day in history for both the Caye and Belize. A proud moment for sure for both student and teacher. He brought down enough stuff (or broke enough equipment) to start the first windsurfing school and rental on Orlando’s beach. It still exists to this day.

We’ve all gotten older and the kiteboarders are the new thing, but the island regulars have made windsurfing still the sport of choice above water on the little sand spit we all know. Edd knows how bad the carpentry can be in Belize and yet still chooses to work and help those in need, like Orlando and me. His tools are always under the bed we have all slept in, the mini bunker to keep the ‘teefs’ of the caye at bay. It’s been the depository of all the new appliances we’ve added to the house during the years. It’s the lock box for hats, sandals, old t-shirts, tapes, stereos, snorkeling gear, and now even microwave ovens. It’s always the big surprise to open it upon arrival to the house and to see what Edd has stashed in there THIS year….sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s….WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?

At least the waterbed is gone, as I always worried it was going to go through the floor at some point, or flood the BOX and all that was in it. He’s spent a good portion of his life (since it’s now in the waning stages) in that house, on that porch, looking out to the sea of blue. Those have been good times. Times that have seen many women come….and go…..mostly go! But that is another story. He is no longer pounding nails, his spine, and thumbs on construction jobs…he’sworking with Mike in his great recycling operation. That has been a very good thing for Edd, and I think for Mike as well. I hope so.

Edd and I share a great love of music of all types, and a continuing love of making great tapes or CD’s of a wide variety of the music that the world has offered us all. That is always something wonderful in Belize, to share each other’s tastes and tunes and to listen to it in the best place we both know.

I surely wish that both Cathi and I could be there for the grand celebration this week, but it’s just not possible. I know that it will be a wonderful, joyous, and hopefully SURPRISING event for you Edd. We send or love and best wishes….and no….no presents (this is it, by the way) on this grand event in your very LONG LIFE!

Live well, Live long, prosper and enjoy!

The following was written by Bruce Turner-

Edd and I were friends for over fifty years, fifty years ! and although we did not spend as much time together after Edd moved from Harrison to Whiterock, we always stayed in touch. He was really missed around here by all that knew him, for his sense of humor, and his weekend get-togethers, sometimes listening to music, or just sat talking around an outdoor fire in the summer.

Someone once said about public speaking,” stand up, speak up, then shut up.’ So I’ll try and stick to these rules. Like most people I’m not good at public speaking, especially off the cuff, so you’ll be relieved to know that I have written a literary masterpieces of few words, which may contain, ‘The truth, the whole truth and perhaps, nothing like the truth, thanks to the passage of over fifty years, and the dispersal of ‘The Usual Suspects’…. some of whom no doubt carried with them a different version of what you are about to hear.

Believe me, I am not a professional speaker,. The only time that word was ever used was when I went to the PNE and tried to enter an ‘ugly contest’and was told “sorry, no professionals….”

In one of John Lennon’s last songs is the lyric, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” Who could have foretold that two small and seemingly insignificant incidents, separated by time and distance, would have such profound life altering consequences. The first involved a car breaking down, the second, the arrival of a letter..

Was there ever a decade as historical or as influencial as the 1960’s ? Here are a few highlights and low lights of that tumultuous decade. We saw the dawning of environmental awareness and the first Earth Day, thanks to Rachell Carson’s recently published and controversial book, ‘Silent Spring’ . The Kennedy Assassination followed, Then the Civil Rights Movement , The Vietnam War, Draft Dodgers, Flower Power, The British Invasion of of musical talent, the assassination of Malcolm X and the rising of Black Power, resulting in rioting and the burning of many of America’s inner cities, Gordon Lightfoot’s banned record , “Black Day in July” will give you the real reasons for what happened. Then there was the blooming of psychedelic Awareness culminating in the gathering of the tribes at the mammoth rock festival at Woodstock , in 1969

We who were so very fortunate enough to experience our teenage years in those exciting turbulent, historical, and mind altering, awareness raising 1960’s, were led to believe that, “ We are the generation that invented ‘Youth culture’ and that we could never really grow old” well, in a physical sense, as you can see, it’s not true, and I want my money back… Quote, “If I’d known I was going to get this old I would have taken better care of myself”, applies to everyone, but on the other hand some say that we should strive to ‘Slide into home plate all used up and burnt out, not having wasted a minute or an opportunity to experience life at it’s fullest. I’ll let you decide which course to try take while your, life happens… (Pause)

People are naturally curious to learn just when and how those they know first met, and under what circumstances.

In the north west corner of Toronto is the old suburb of Weston, once a village in the 1800’s, where most of the working people are middle class living on old tree lined streets. It was on one of these streets that I was boarding with a German family, whose son is still a friend, my parents having moved to Hamilton for work. If they thought it strange that one of their sons was now boarding with the very people they had been at war with just twenty years earlier, they never said anything to me. To the young, twenty years is a lifetime, and what happened back then is ancient history. But as you age , time takes on a whole different aspect and twenty years can seem like only months ago.

It was here in Weston that I first saw Edd, 52 years ago ! in that long ago fall of 1965. He and his buddies hung out down the street from where two girls lived that my friend Wolfgang and I had just met. That group of ‘good ole boys’ didn’t think much of these two strangers dressed like Mod’s coming onto their turf and walking off with two girls they must have had their eye on. , (if you don’t know what Mods were, you can Google the word. ) The whole scene could have been taken from the movie ‘ A West Side Story’. On the one side you’d have the Jet’s, dressed in baggy jeans and black leather under cut off jean jackets, blasting ‘ Surfer music from the radios in their cars, and on the other side , two long haired Mod’s dressed in tailor made bell bottoms and jackets over wildly colored shirts…, grooving to ‘Sunshine Superman’ or ‘Eight Miles High’. Luckily, in this case only dirty looks were exchanged.

Wolfgang and I and the two girls, were in the habit of making the scene downtown in Toronto’s ‘Bohemian’ Yorkville area at various crowded smoke filled ‘coffee bars’ where we would sip overpriced soft drinks and watch artists like Gordon Lightfoot or Ian and Sylvia, and various other bands . One group, The Sparrows, later morphed into the band ‘Steppenwolf’. Naturally there was the whiff of something else in the air.

A few months later in the spring of 1966 I was now living a few miles away in Rexdale with my family, that had newly returned to Toronto. Imagine my surprise when my older brother showed up one day with a friend from where he worked, who had brought along his buddy, Edd They too, in the Immortal words of Timothy Leary, wanted to ‘Turn on and Tune In….’Pretty soon we were all on the same page. There and then a Lifelong friendship was born. Over the next 4 yrs: Edd and I hung out together, getting to know each other’s friends and going to various rock concerts. By early 1969 four of us, Ed , Me Wolfgang and his wife with their new baby had rented a house together.

That summer I hitchhiked to Vancouver, and later after I returned to Toronto I went to England for four months. When I returned Edd had moved in with a girlfriend and the house we had all shared was split up.

In the summer of 1970 Edd, and another friend, Barry O Connell, bought an old car in Toronto and headed for Vancouver. I was told, by Ian Bladon, that the car had broken down near Chilliwack and they had to wait for it to be repaired, So, needing a reasonably priced place to stay, while it was being fixed they were directed to Harrison. I think this is where he met, and within a short time married Gloria.

In the winter of 1970 - ’71 I was in Los Angelese, when I received a letter from Edd. He suggested that on my way back to Toronto that I stop by for a visit. So in late April or early May of ‘71 I hitch hiked up to Harrison. Ed and Gloria had a small shop selling arts and crafts right next to the Hot Springs pool where The Lido/ Red Fort now stands. They gave me a space to ‘crash’ until I found a place of my own.

Many of the local transient population went tree planting and fire fighting that Spring and summer. It was also in this Merry Month of May in the Lakeshore Cafe that I met Maureen the young lady I was later to Marry. In the late fall, of ’71 work being ‘thin on the ground’, I got a job up at Port Hardy with the Island Copper Mine. In early 1972 Edd and Gloria, along with Ian and Sandra, AKA Odie, came up there too.

By the summer of 1973 we were all back in Harrison. How could you not love this place, with such clean air, and with that fantastic view of mountains and lake. So very different from the smoky – smoggy cities I’d lived in most of my life. So I stayed here. By this time Edd and Gloria and their little bundle of joy, Feather, were living near by in Popkum. It was here, with Gloria that Edd’s love of gardening took root..

Edd loved parties big and small, he and Gloria started the annual Beggars Banquet in The Memorial Hall in Harrison which was a happening for several years. Later on the party moved to Edd’s place out on Cameron road where he lived for the next 25 yrs: after he and Gloria split up. Some were larger gatherings, some just a few friends. One year, at the beginning of August at one of these outdoor fireside evenings we witnessed a remarkable sight. Under a starry sky, the mist lay like a low cloud over the surrounding fields, with the coyotes howling in the distance. Across the valley Mount Cheam became silhouetted by a growing phospherecent light which grew and grew, until the moon rose up right behind the very peak of the mountain! If you would like to witness the same rare occurence, go out to Edd’s old place on Cameron rd, near Rimex, hopefully on a clear night near the beginning of August when the new moon is forecast, it is an amazing sight. Take a ‘Go – Pro’ camera with you, or at the very least your smart phone camera.

It was in the mid 1970’s that Edd took up learning how to hang glide, I can still see the novices bouncing on their asses, down a steep hill near Mission, thank God it was grassy. But, we all gave that up when Blake, the young 19 yr: old instructor was killed, jumping off a mountain during ‘ Brigade Days’ up in Hope BC..

Soon Edd took up the safer sport of wind surfing . Which, is how, I believe, he met a great new friend, ‘Big’ Al from Whiterock, who I am told was teaching wind surfing on Harrison Lake, and who probably told Edd about life in Belize down in the Caribbean.

For all but two years of the rest of his life, Edd spent at least two months every winter in Belize on the island of Caye Caulker. He often said that he had

already enjoyed his retirement, having spent an accumulation of many years in that tropical paradise. I don’t know of anyone else that can make that claim.

When Edd’s place on Cameron road was sold, by the owner, around the year 2000, he was fortunate enough to be invited by Al and Gordie to live on their Farm near Whiterock. Soon he had a much wider circle of friends that welcomed him and soon became another family to him.

I know that in Belize Edd also had another wide circle of friends, this time from all over the world. Each Spring he would return to Canada, relaxed and tanned. The browner he looked, the greener I looked, while listening to stories of who he had met and of his life in that exotic tropical faraway place. I’m sure that there are few people who have enjoyed their years here, on this plane, as much as Edd did.

In fact he is probably there right now, gently swinging in his hammock, under the palm trees, with a frosty beer in one hand, his favorite Reggae music softly competing with the sound of breaking waves, having just come in from windsurfing around the bay………… Perhaps we may all visit him there one day…

Obituary- For Edd Bryce- Written by his daughter Feather Bryce

Edward Bryce Jr. born Dec.7th, 1947, passed away peacefully with his daughter by his side, on April 12th, 2017, at Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock, BC. Edd spent his early childhood in Edinburgh, Scotland and moved to Toronto with his family when he was still just a lad. He came to British Columbia as a young man and took up residence in the Agassiz/Harrison Hot Springs community where he lived for 30+ years. He was a carpenter by trade for just as many years. Edd loved music, gardening, poetry, windsurfing, camping, hiking and travelling to Belize every winter, but two, for the past 40 years. The last 15 years he resided in White Rock, BC and was employed by Western Rubber during that time.

Edd was always the life of the party or creating the party because he could always find a reason to celebrate and appreciate beauty and balance on his life journey. Although cancer took him from us far too soon he was able to say that he enjoyed a wonderful life and he had no regrets. He formed a lifetime for himself that he’d dreamt of as a boy; full of love, amazing memories, good times and even better company. He was a great father and even better Grandpa.

Edd was predeceased by his family of origin. Edd Bryce is survived by his daughter Feather Lee Bryce Sherwood and his granddaughters Carmelle and Cadence. He is also survived by his former spouse, Gloria Butchart Wagner, the mother of his only child. He will be missed greatly by all who loved him including his many close friends that were also his “family”; Vel & Mike, Bruce & Maureen, Al & Genisea, Gordie & Christa, Dave, Margaret, Pepo (who was like a son to Edd), Alana, Roger & Jean, Harriet and Jerry & Joan just to name a few, as well as his abundant island family on Caye Caulker in Belize.

Just a few days before his passing my Dad started writing a poem. He wrote the first 12 lines on the Saturday before he passed very early on the Wednesday morning. As he was going to sleep Tuesday night, sensing the end was near, he expressed regret over not being able to finish his poem. I assured him that the girls and In would finish it, just like we were going to finish and carry on the legacy he started as well.

Moments

They say in life it is not the amount of breaths you take

It is the moments that take your breath away

Like a setting sun or a full moon rise

Comets flying through the skies

Standing on a mountain top and wishing you could fly away

These are the moments that took my breath away

Rainbows and waterfalls, in the distance coyotes call

Sitting back to watch the river flow, on a beautiful sunny day

There is an eagle soaring in the sky

I swear it looked me in the eye

And it took my breath away

Take time to reminisce, about your

First love, and your first kiss

(Written by Edd Bryce April 8th and 9th, 2017)

Take a step back to look at your life

How you kept going through the pain and strife

Stop to breathe in… all that takes your breath away

See what others give

Sense how good people live

Seek souls that forgive

Embrace the loved ones who will outlive, me

And with all that is left in me, I say

These are the moments that should take your breath away

These are the moments that give me peace

As my breath fades away

(Completed by Carmelle and Feather April 24th, 2017)

* * * * * * * * * *

Edward Bryce Jr. born Dec.7th, 1947, passed away peacefully with his daughter by his side, on April 12th, 2017, at Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock, BC. Edd spent his early childhood in Edinburgh, Scotland and moved to Toronto with his family when he was still just a lad. He came to British Columbia as a young man and took up residence in the Agassiz/Harrison Hot Springs community where he lived for 30+ years. He was a carpenter by trade for just as many years. Edd loved music, gardening, poetry, windsurfing, camping, hiking and travelling to Belize every winter, but two, for the past 40 years. The last 15 years he resided in White Rock, BC and was employed by Western Rubber during that time.

Edd was always the life of the party or creating the party because he could always find a reason to celebrate and appreciate beauty and balance on his life journey. Although cancer took him from us far too soon he was able to say that he enjoyed a wonderful life and he had no regrets. He formed a lifetime for himself that he’d dreamt of as a boy; full of love, amazing memories, good times and even better company. He was a great father and even better Grandpa.

Edd was predeceased by his family of origin. Edd Bryce is survived by his daughter Feather Lee Bryce Sherwood and his granddaughters Carmelle and Cadence. He is also survived by his former spouse, Gloria Butchart Wagner, the mother of his only child. He will be missed greatly by all who loved him including his many close friends that were also his “family”; Vel & Mike, Bruce & Maureen, Al & Genisea, Gordie & Christa, Dave, Margaret, Pepo (who was like a son to Edd), Alana, Roger & Jean, Harriet and Jerry & Joan just to name a few, as well as his abundant island family on Caye Caulker in Belize.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Edd's granddaughters' RESP education fund and their future music lessons. Cheques can be made in their names to be deposited in their accounts. Please make sure to leave a guest book message on this site, so that it can be added to a keepsake book for Feather and the girls.

Please keep sending pictures into the website!

The Memorial for Edd Bryce will be held in Harrison Hot Springs on Sat. May 6th, 2017 Starting at 10am, at Greenpoint at Sasquatch Park. The Celebration of life will continue at the Harrison Gospel Chapel at the Fellowship Hall, where Edd's granddaughters will sing and people can share stories from his life. There will be a potluck lunch to be served at the hall and everyone is encouraged to bring an item to share. The celebration of Edd's life will continue at another location close by to be announced .