Ed (Eddie) Best

Ed (Eddie) Best was born on November 12, 1940 in Bridgetown, Barbados. Ed passed away peacefully in his sleep at his long term care facility, Gorge Road Hospital, on October 7, 2021 at the age of 80.

He is predeceased by his wife, Nadine Best (Padmore) in 2018; mom, Phyllis; dad, Edward; and sisters, Gloria and Monica; sisters-in-law, Egnel, Joan and Nello (Mag).

Ed is survived by his children, Tricia (Brian) and Roland (Alana); grandchildren, Jamal, Josephine, Jalen, Kymani and Sydahlia; brothers, Wayne and Anton; sisters, Margo and Sheila; brothers-in-law, Chester and Merton; sisters-in-law, Felicia and Marlene; nephews, Marlon, Ryan, Cranston, David, Wayne Jr., Shawn, Phillip, Anton Jr., Duwite, Arthur, and Robert; nieces, Allison, Julianne, Nicole, Shannel, Antonya, Kiele, Kiann, Deandra and Lisa.

Ed, also known by many close friends as Eddie, was an exceptional human being, throughout his entire life. Growing up in Barbados, he was a popular guy who loved his fast cars, was well known around the island and made a lot of great friends during his childhood and young adult life. Many of those friends became lifelong friends and felt more like family.

Eddie met his future wife in Barbados, Nadine Padmore, in the early 1960s. Nadine moved to Canada in 1964. Despite Eddie’s work, full social life and large network of connections in Barbados, he decided that nothing was more important than being with his true love. In 1968, Eddie left his mom, family and friends behind to join Nadine in Montréal. The move to Canada for Eddie definitely paid off, as he was able to marry Nadine, the best thing that ever happened to him on August 17, 1968.

In 1968, Ed joined the RBC Royal Bank in Montréal. Ed took this exciting new career opportunity and ran with it. He started climbing the corporate ladder at RBC quickly. He was a remarkable people person, hardworking and a fast learner. Ed was also a gifted public speaker. He had such a sharp mind and was an extremely brilliant person. These impressive skills allowed him to intelligently participate in any type of conversation, no matter what the topic. Growing up, Eddie skipped numerous grades at school. He really did shine bright throughout his life.

Ed and Nadine’s first child, Tricia Heather Eddine, was born on December 1, 1969 in Montréal. The RBC culture was such that Ed had to accept geographical transfers to land bigger positions. The family moved to Vancouver in the early 1970s, where Edward Roland was born, on November 12, 1974, the same birthday as Ed.

In the late 1970s, Ed moved his family to Winnipeg, where there was a big career opportunity. Ed and the family fell in love with Winnipeg and especially the people. Over the 13 years there, special lifelong friendships were made. Career wise, Ed sacrificed a lot by keeping his family in Winnipeg for so long, for many years he kept refusing transfer options with RBC to help his family plant some roots and build impactful relationships in Winnipeg, which the family very much appreciated. With Tricia finishing her first degree at university, and Roland graduating from high school, the time was perfect for Ed to accept another RBC transfer, an excellent career opportunity. The family moved back to Montréal from 1992 – 1998, during which time Tricia moved to British Columbia in 1993, and eventually to Victoria in 1999. Another great RBC opportunity was offered to Ed, and Nadine, Roland and him moved to Oakville, Ontario, from 1998 – 2008. It was during this time in Toronto that Ed retired from his 30+ years with RBC. Throughout Ed’s successful career, he held numerous senior executive positions.

In 2008, Ed and Nadine followed their two children and moved to Victoria. It is here where Ed made some great friends during his weekly rounds of golf at Cordova Bay Golf Course. Ed and Nadine also became part of the Cordova Bay United Church community where they made many wonderful friends.

Ed took great pride in his work, and had a passion for sports, in the 1980s you could find Ed watching multiple TVs and listening to a radio checking out various sporting events that happened to be on at the same time. Two of his favourite teams were the Toronto Blue Jays and the Toronto Raptors. But, nothing came even close to the love that Ed had for his family and friends, they were his world. Ed gave his all to Nadine, Tricia and Roland, and helped to provide his family with a stable foundation to grow and learn from. He had endless love for his wife and kids, and supported them in everything they did, with so much encouragement and enthusiasm. Ed couldn’t hide, nor did he ever try, his high level of excitement for life and all of the big and small things within it. Ed and Nadine built a home and a very close family that was full of so much love and kindness for one another.

No matter how far away from Barbados Ed lived, his family in Barbados meant so much to him, and he would do his best to help support them throughout the years. Ed had a special connection and place in his heart for all his family and friends from Barbados. Everywhere Ed and Nadine lived, they would make wonderful friends, people loved to be around them and enjoyed taking in their positive and uplifting energy. Ed really was the life of any party that he entered. He had such an impressive presence and could just walk into a room and take it over, in a respectful way, with the funniest sense of humour. People would be glued to Ed’s every word, and he would have people just laughing like crazy. It was always so awesome to watch. The beautiful love, humour and respect that Ed shared with everyone, was a remarkable gift. And those that were lucky enough to experience it over the years felt grateful to have Ed in their lives.

Ed had a natural and genuine ability to make those around him feel extremely special and important. This wonderful trait was evident as he walked around the various floors of the RBC offices that he worked in. He would remember everyone’s name and would ask a lot of them questions about their kids and partners, also by name. This may seem like a simple thing, but it really made a huge difference and made people feel appreciated. And so many of his staff and colleagues from RBC, would talk about how amazing he was.

In early 2017, Ed was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and in 2018 he suffered a stroke which left him with a significant memory loss and cognitive challenges. As a result, Ed would move into a long term care facility, Gorge Road Hospital, to ensure he received the best care possible. Ed received incredible care and support in his new home. Not surprising, the nursing staff and doctor absolutely loved and cherished Ed as their patient. Many times staff would mention “Ed is the nicest person that we have ever had here.” Without any filters, a person’s true colours, their core and essence of their soul really does shine through. Even in the state that Ed was in as things began to slow down drastically over time, Ed was still full of so much love, gratitude, huge smiles and continued to share so much joy to those around him.

Ed was surrounded by so much love and kindness from family and friends throughout his life, and this was definitely demonstrated during his final week. His two kids, Tricia and Roland, would visit him every day, sleep over night with him, and their partners, Brian, Alana and Ed’s grandkids, Jamal, Josephine, Jalen, Kymani and Sydahlia and some of his close friends all had the opportunity to give Ed extra love during his last week. The family were all able to tell Ed how much they loved him and thanked him for all that he had done for his family, to help all of them show up in this world the way that they do. Having a chance to tell Ed all of that and to say our goodbyes was an absolute blessing.

Ed, was admired by many, and so greatly appreciated for all that he did for his family and friends. Ed left such precious memories with all of his family and friends He truly was the best husband, dad/pops, and granddad a family could ever ask for. His family and friends loved him so very much, will miss him tremendously and think about him often.

Ed slept peacefully, without any pain, for eight days and passed away with family around him. The world truly lost a legend, and heaven received the life of the party. Rest in Power, Ed (Eddie) Best, and continue your peaceful journey.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Parkinson Wellness Project in Victoria at: https://parkinsonwellnessproject.org/

A Celebration of Ed (Eddie) Best’s life will be held in the Sequoia Centre at McCall Gardens, 4665 Falaise Drive, on Saturday, November 13, 2021 at 2:00 p.m.

Those wishing to attend virtually can do so by clicking the link below. Please enable your camera when possible so those attending in person can see you and feel your support.

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87113519380?pwd=ZC8weWc1R3huREZZTHRSSzRYSVZZdz09

Condolences may be offered to the family below.

McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com