Obituary of Edward Richard Stephen

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Edward Richard Stephen.   Edward (Ted) went to be with his heavenly Father on August 23, 2023 at the age of 87 years.  Ted leaves behind his loving wife, Anita (Willms) of almost 63 years, and their children, Danyelle (Dave) Fowler, Richard Stephen, and daughter-in-law Jen Stephen.  Ted also leaves behind his precious grandchildren, Samantha Wilson (Brett Nagami), Eric Stephen, Katharine Wilson (Hugo Lundberg), Breanna Stephen and Kyah Stephen.

Born in Toronto on August 9, 1936 to Edward Stephen and Lilian (Walls) Stephen, Ted moved with his family to St. Catharines, where he grew up with a keen interest in school and sports.  His father promoted this interest by building backyard hockey rinks for him, sometimes late into the night with a water hose that protruded from the basement window,  and loudly cheering from the sidelines at baseball and football games.

Fresh out of high school at the tender age of 17, Ted was selected by Mr. John Funk, of Funk, McGarvey and Company, a local Chartered Accountant firm, to join them as a summer job.  Ted had entertained the idea of pursuing a degree in Pharmacy in Toronto, having studied Latin, Trigonometry, Physics, etc., at which he excelled.  However, number crunching seemed to suit him very well indeed, and he stayed with the firm for 53 years.  During that time, the firm became known as Crawford, Smith and Swallow.  Ted received his Chartered Accountant designation in 1959 and became a Partner in 1974.  Ted has served some of his clients for over forty years in a variety of auditing, accounting and income tax preparation and planning assignments until his retirement in 2007.  It was a reluctant retirement, however, as those computer Excel spreadsheets got the better of him.

Ted and Anita began their courtship at the Stamford hockey arena where an impromptu skate took over their lives. They were married on October 15, 1960, and settled in St. Catharines to raise their children.

Ted became an active member of the community, where he served as Treasurer of the Grace-Linwell Retirement Community, the Erion Homeowners Association as well as on the committee of the St. Catharines Joint Hospital Campaign.

Ted was also an active member and participant of Grace Mennonite Church.  His favourite perch was in the foyer before service to greet his Grace friends, and who can forget the sometimes humourous requests for funds for his famous Penny Power Pot!  He also faithfully saved and cut out the daily Sudoku puzzles from the Globe for Irene, with the answers taped on the back.

Our beloved Ted will be greatly missed by his family and many friends.

Visitation will take place on Monday, August 28^th from 6 to 8pm at Grace Mennonite Church, 677 Niagara Street in St. Catharines.  The funeral service will be held the next day, Tuesday, August 29^th, at 11am, also at Grace Mennonite Church. 

The family is deeply grateful for the unwavering support of the St. Catharines Hospital (NHS) doctors and nursing staff.

If desired, memorial donations to the Mennonite Central Committee would be appreciated.