Edward Michael Southern

Edward was born in St. John, NB on January 14, 1943 and passed away on April 17, 2009 at Vancouver General Hospital. He was predeceased by his father, John Edward Southern, his mother, Emilia (Millie) Foster/Southern and her second husband, Douglas Foster. Ed is survived by his life partner of 33 years, Darrell Zakreski and his supporting family; his uncle Delphis Doucet, Dalhousie, NB; special cousin, Lorraine (Edgar) Nadeau of McKenzie, BC, longtime soulmate, Patricia Vanasse of Montreal; as well as numerous friends and cousins in Calgary, Montreal, Toronto, Port Coquitlam, Vancouver, Dalhousie, NB, Bathurst, NB and Kiev, Ukraine. He graduated in 1961 from Dalhousie School of Commerce. Throughout the course of Ed’s life, he had various business ventures. He began his career in Gabon, Africa with an international rail company. He returned to Canada and joined the Alberta oil and gas professional recruitment industry. He owned and operated numerous Calgary entertainment venues and participated in commercial real estate development. Ed worked with E.R. Squibb & sons as a Credit Manager in Montreal, moved to Saskatoon in 1975 with AMOK Ltd. as Manager of Personnel Administration. Moving later to Calgary in 1977, Ed was involved in professional recruiting for the oil and gas industry until the mid 1980’s. When Ukraine obtained its’ independence in 1991, Ed took an interest in Ukraine and was presented an opportunity to further develop oil and gas reserves in the Ukraine. Over the course of this project, Ed was appointed Executive Vice President for Kroes Energy Inc. His dedication and vision drove him to become very instrumental in building a solid relationship with the Ukrainian government which resulted in his appointment to Honorary Consul of Ukraine for Alberta for a number of years. While spending several months of every year in Kiev, he became active in the Ukrainian Roman Catholic Church, St. Alexander’s Cathedral. Ed took on a lead role as Choir Director and fundraised for an international quality pipe organ. Even though Ed was not of Ukrainian origin, he loved the country, its’ history, culture and people. Ed had many interests that included extensive world travel, reading, television and immensely enjoying his coffee and cigarette. He was known for his direct, quick witted and humorous personality. He had numerous friends from many parts of the world and was quick to make friends wherever he travelled and worked. With the support of the BC Transplant Society, Ed was gifted with a successful lung transplant in Fall of 2007. Donations in his memory may be forwarded to the Solid Organ Transplant Clinic, 2775 Laurel Street, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9. Special thanks and deep gratitude to Dr. Yee, Dr. Levy, Dr. Wilson and all the staff including the ICU Department that supported Ed during his hospital stays at the Vancouver General Hospital along with Dr. Waters and the Victoria Royal Jubilee Hospital staff.

Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 2:00 pm at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Victoria. Ed will be laid to rest in Calgary at a private service.