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James Edward Carter
James “Eddie” Carter, born Mayday, 1955, died suddenly at home in Toronto, Jan. 31, 2022.
Ed was a one-of-a-kind uncle to: Ewa, Ria, Michel, Bridget, Bertholde, Patricia Louise, Tom, Donald, Al, Jesse, Melanie (Golly), Paul, Peter, Michael, Alexander Jr., Norma, Jennifer and Hugh. In his eyes, none of them could do any wrong. He is also the Godfather to some of them plus other kids, besides. He has way too many cousins to count.
Ed is second-youngest brother to Bertholde (the late Jim Bailey), Norma (Paul Fairman), Charlene (Al MacNevin), Alex (Brenda,) Mary, and Peter (Helena). Ed was predeceased by Tom (Judy) and Pat and Mary Leona. Truth be told, when Helena married Peter she got Ed in the bargain and will doubtless miss trying to out triple-word-score him in Scrabble.
The son of the late Tom and Huena Carter of Sudbury, Ed graduated from Laurentian University with a B.A. in philosophy, then sought adventures from Elliot Lake to Acapulco with stops in Vancouver, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Winnipeg and Manitoulin Island before settling in Toronto.
He spent many years at Canada Post as an ardent union steward fighting on behalf of people who needed representation.
But more important than work, philosopher Ed insisted our job on earth is to have fun. And fun he had. As his lifelong pal Ron Temchuk wrote on social media after he’d heard Ed died: “I remember partying with him in a light hearted way that made all my troubles fade away.”
Ed was one of the wittiest guys on the planet who saw humour in everything, sometimes to an annoying degree, and last year in fact Ed made his stand-up debut at Second City. (Ed would probably ask, “so is this funeral my lying-down debut?”)
From the time he arrived on earth to the time he left, Ed never hurt a soul.
A service will be held for Ed at St. John’s Dixie Chapel in Mississauga, 737 Dundas St E, Monday Feb. 7 at 2:00 p.m.
Live streaming will be available through the following link:
Livestream during Visitations and Service
https://stjohnsdixie.com/cemetery/live-memorial/
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the good cause of your choice.
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22 Guestbook Entries
February 3, 2022 | Claudette Allard
Expressing my deepest condolences to you, to Bertholde, and family. At this difficult time may you find comfort in knowing that I share in your sorrow. Wishing you peace and comfort as you remember your dear brother Ed.
February 6, 2022 | Ernescliffe Co op
On behalf of Ernescliffe co op members and staff our deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of Mr. James Carter.We hope you find peace and comfort in your time of grief. Ed was well liked by his neighbors and made many friends over the years. If a tenant did not know Ed by name you just had to say “the gentleman with the book in the courtyard” and they would instantly know who you were talking about. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Carters family and loved ones at this difficult time.
February 12, 2022 | Peter Carter
Gosh thanks for all your help through this time Shane and you, Rosie and your mother in law Ginger bring tons of comfort to us, Ed’s family, knowing that he had such good and supportive friends. That’s also a lovely tribute you wrote! You’re good! I mean that in every sense of the wood. See ya around.
Peter
February 4, 2022 | Frances MacLellan Carmichael
To the Carter family
I was very sad to hear of Ed’s passing. I only met Ed twice, once in Halifax when he was visiting my mom, Lillian. He certainly was a character, loved by all that met him. The second time was in Toronto, when we visited for Master Chef. As you all know, loosing a sibling is difficult, but that is what life is about at our age. My deepest condolences to all of you!
Hugs sent
Frances and Alex Carmichael
February 4, 2022 | Joan Crawford
I was sorry to hear today about Ed’s passing. In 2019 I had the opportunity to see Ed in Toronto — the first time in many years. He had such an amazing wit and sense of humour.
I will keep all of you in my prayers as you grieve the loss of your brother, Ed
February 5, 2022 | Shane
On behalf of Ernescliffe co op members and staff our deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of Mr. James Carter.We hope you find peace and comfort in your time of grief. Ed was well liked by his neighbors and made many friends over the years. If a tenant did not know Ed by name you just had to say “the gentleman with the book in the courtyard” and they would instantly know who you were talking about. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Carters family and loved ones at this difficult time.
Shane
Ernescliffe co op
February 6, 2022 | Holly J Urso
Rest in peace Eddie.
February 12, 2022 | Peter Carter
Hi Holly! At least we have lots of great Ed memories. I have lots of terrific Holly memories too. Hope you’re well. Thanks.
February 6, 2022 | John Ikeno
I’m sad to read about my old friend James Carter ‘s passing. My condolences to his family. He will be greatly missed.
February 11, 2022 | Peter
You condolences are gratefully accepted John. Thanks for the kind words.
Live life to the fullest cuz you just never know right?
February 7, 2022 | Franck
Ed was a good, easygoing and funny person. I met him at Peter’s house. Sorry for the loss. May God accept his soul.My prayer goes out to your family Peter.
February 11, 2022 | Peter
Yup Franck the world is down one socialist. You have your work cut out for you. Thanks for the kind words.. See you soon I hope.
February 7, 2022 | Vivien Boyd
Our condolences on the loss of your brother Ed.
May he Rest In Peace and you and your family are in our prayers at this sad and difficult time….
The Boyd Family
February 7, 2022 | ROSEANNE MACLELLAN RICE
The above obituary is a great description of Ed. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you.
February 7, 2022 | Reno
This saddens me. I met James so many years ago on the Danforth With Friends having a relaxing evening. James was strong-minded, humorous and caring. Rest in peace my friend. My condolences to the family.
February 12, 2022 | Peter Carter
Thank you Reno. I wonder if you’re one of the Swan’s Super Bowl attendees. If so, toast Ed next time you’re in.
Peter C
February 7, 2022 | kenneth pinnell
my condolences to family and friends
February 11, 2022 | Peter
Thanks. He’s going to be missed by a lot of people who he worked and played with.
February 7, 2022 | Rieta Chalupiak
I am so sorry to hear Uncle Ed has passed. My deepest condolences to his family. He was always a kind and funny guy.
February 11, 2022 | Peter
He loved you folks so much. I like thinking he’s with Bill now though. It’s a comforting thought.
Thanks.
February 9, 2022 | Shari Dey
I can’t believe that James is gone. It seems like just the other day that we exchanged Happy New Year texts. James sent a text for every occasion – New Year, Valentine’s Day, International Women’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Labour Day, Thanksgiving, Diwali, and Christmas, as well as “just checking in” texts and texts asking about my parents’ various illnesses or the well-being of my nieces and nephews. Of course, I always sent him a May Day birthday text. With me, James was not a phone call guy – he was a text guy and occasional e-mail guy. I used to try to get him to call me so that we didn’t have to carry on “textversations”, as I called them, but that was his comfort zone, so I carried them on until we finally switched to e-mailing.
I first met James about 20 years ago on the Danforth and as soon as he heard that I had been on strike twice (6 weeks, then 8 weeks) to support my union, he and I became friends. Over the years, I discovered that his personality made him a very unique friend of mine, unlike anyone else. I gently scolded him more than a few times for finding humour in almost every situation, but when a situation was truly serious, he was plenty serious about it and had significant knowledge about it. I always thought he would make a great author. And then at the next moment…he would crack another joke. 🙂 He was very entertaining to be around. Never a dull moment.
The last time I saw James was on May 19, 2019 at the Imperial Pub, where I laughed my guts out while watching his Second City performance on his “iphoneputer”, as he called it. He also beamed with pride while showing me recent pictures of the twins and other nieces and nephews, most of whom I had seen before in pictures over the years. He was always such a proud uncle that I started, years ago, calling him “Uncle Eddie” instead of “James” and had him listed in my phone’s contacts as “James (Uncle Eddie) Carter.” He was always interested in other cultures and was the only friend of mine who called me by my Indian nickname. After our visit and walk back to the subway station, he told me to text him when I had reached home safely, as he always told me to. He was a true gentleman.
During COVID, I tried to encourage James to cook more but he claimed that he was not a good cook. I was grateful that he always had access to the spaghetti with meat sauce and other entrees at Fran’s. I was sorry to hear that James spent the entire summer of 2021 in hospital. Summer was his favourite season and he had some colourful Hawaiian shirts! After he got out of hospital, I was very happy when he came back from his sisters’ Thanksgiving dinner in Sudbury, raving about how it was an absolute feast! I had to decline his invitation to attend a classical orchestral music concert in November which was for charity and was directed by his 6’7”-tall godson. I was afraid to be in a concert hall but I hope that James went and enjoyed himself. He e-mailed a reply to me after I declined and said, “Don’t let covid destroy your life, please.” I now regret not attending that concert because it would have been my first time seeing him since 2019. After hearing about the COVID situation in India, James was thoughtful enough to text and ask me about the well-being of my relatives there. He was an all-around nice guy.
I apologize for leaving such a long message here but since I will now never have the chance to make sure that James knows how much I valued his friendship, I wanted to at least make sure that his family members were aware of how special he was to me and, no doubt, to his other friends. I hope that James himself knew that.
To the Carter Family – Please accept my heartfelt condolences on the loss of your Brother Ed / Uncle Ed. He was a good and decent man. I will dearly miss his James-isms (e.g. “Could be worse, could be raining”, etc.), his wit, sarcasm, humour, and his good soul.
Rest in Peace, James. I know that l will miss you often.
Your friend,
Shari XO
February 10, 2022 | Peter Carter
Hi Shari, On behalf of the entire Carter family, let me thank you for that lovely tribute to a man we all loved very much. He was lucky to know you.. Please feel free to email me at editorpeter30@gmail.com.
Peter Carter