Obituary of Edward Keith Miedema

Obituary Ed Miedema 1965 - 2023 With heavy hearts and great sadness we announce the passing of Edward “Ed” Miedema. Ed gained his angel wings on July 20th, 2023, surrounded by his loving family. He went peacefully at the age of 57 and was smiling until the end, (he was often referred to as Mr. Smiles by the nurses!) Ed was born December 21st, 1965 in New Market, Ontario, to his parents Sidney and Joanne Miedema. He was the 5th child in what would become a 9 child family, making him the middle child. Ed perfectly portrayed the middle child, always having tricks up his sleeve and seeking the attention any moment he could. At the age of 8, the Miedema clan moved out west, north of Fort St John BC, where they and other families homesteaded land out in the bush. Ed spent his childhood years farming, milking cows, caring for horses with his father and doing what any other boys being raised on a farm would. As he grew up his interests grew as well, he became quite the avid musher with his own team of sled dogs; he would compete in races held on Charlie lake! As a young adult Ed helped his parents out with their cleaning business, which then gave him an itch to be an entrepreneur himself. Ed ran a car detailing business, and also started a taxi company with his brother Wally which they successfully ran for years, (785-taxi was originally their number which we always thought was pretty cool!) In 1988 Ed got what turned out to be the chance of a lifetime and he started Fast Ed’s Duct Cleaning, (later renamed Arctic Duct Cleaning by his brother James when he had taken over briefly in the mid-late 90’s) Ed was the owner/operator of that company for the better part of 30+ years; this is how most of Fort St John knew Ed. Although Ed was an entrepreneur by heart, he also lived his 20’s to the fullest, which is how he ended up meeting his wife of 18 years and mother of his 3 children, he was at the same party as she was! They right away fell for each other, getting pregnant with their oldest almost instantly, and marrying the following fall after she was born. They went on to have 2 more daughters during the 90s and raised them during the 2000’s to be princesses. Ed never spared a dime when it came to his girls, they were always his world. Ed loved to travel and instilled that love in his children by making yearly summer vacations around Canada, and he made several trips to Mexico throughout his years. Ed loved camping and took his family any chance he could get, including with his grandkids in more recent years. After his kids were grown, (or almost,) he welcomed their spouses. Before any weddings happened, he had the most greatest pleasure of welcoming 2 of his 5 grandchildren into his family in 2010 and 2013, he always told his kids how much he wanted to be a Pake! In 2014 he gave away his oldest daughter to his first Son-in-law, Marcus, followed by giving away his second daughter in 2019 to his second son-in-law Colton. Although he never got the chance to give away his youngest daughter, he welcomed her spouse Dekker into the family as well. Amongst those years he also welcomed grandchild #3 in 2014, #4 in 2020 and #5 in 2022, he was a very busy man! Sadly the last few years have been a battle starting with sepsis in September of 2020, in the heat of Covid so he spent 3 weeks alone in the hospital, close to death but he hung on! Since the sepsis, life was never the same for him which was tough but he kept going. Ultimately the sepsis and medications needed to keep him alive, caused irreparable damage to his liver, which caused a whole list of bad things to happen and basically strip Ed of the dignity he had. Early this year Ed made the decision to be put onto the MAID list for when the time would come where his life was just too hard to keep living. Early this July he had made the decision that the time had come and he chose his date. Not once did he shed a tear, not once did he regret his decision, all he had was smiles and a positive attitude for his final weeks. He was a true inspiration of peace and faith. Ed will be so greatly missed by his daughters, their families, the mother of his children, his foster children from years back, his whole entire family of 8 siblings with their families and all of his friends. Ed touched so many lives in the life he lived and will carry on in our memories forever. We hope he's having a popsicle in the campground of heaven with his mom and dad and all the other wonderful people he had lost in his life. Ed’s family would like to thank the Nurses, Doctors and staff at the Fort St John General Hospital for their compassion and support over the last weeks. We would also like to thank the church community of Evangel for all of their support throughout these times. Ed felt very welcomed and part of a family at church, which really made a huge difference in his quality of life. We would also very much like to thank all of the staff at Abbeyfield, their kindness is unmeasurable and we are so grateful for every one of you that touched Ed’s soul. A viewing will take place on Tuesday, July 25 at 6:30 -8:00 pm at Hamres Funeral Chapel. Memorial Services to be held on July 27th, 2023 at 1pm. Service followed by a potluck luncheon will be held at Evangel 10040 100th Street. At 3pm we will follow Ed on his last wagon ride in procession to gather at Woodlawn Cemetery at 4pm for the interment. Donations in honor of Ed can be made to Laura-Lee to help with funeral expenses - Click Here to donate. Services Open Viewing Tuesday July 25, 2023 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM Hamre's Funeral Chapel 10315 102 Street Fort St. John, BC V1J4B9 Memorial Service Thursday July 27, 2023 1:00 PM Evangel Chapel 10040 101 Ave Fort St. John, BC V1J 3Y4 Potluck Luncheon to follow Thursday July 27, 2023 Evangel Chapel 10040 101 Ave Fort St. John, BC V1J 3Y4 Interment to follow Thursday July 27, 2023 Woodlawn Cemetery 12704 86 St Fort St. John, BC V1J 4M6