Edward (Ted) Murray

 Murray, Edward (Ted)

Sadly, Ted left us far too early on May 15, 2023 succumbing to a stroke 3 days earlier. A  loving father to Chris (Phil) and Carolyn (Anthony Sutherland), son-in-law Paul Guy and dear friend, Catherine Dombroskie, the mother of his children. Ted was devoted to his granddaughters Kaydence and Harmony Guy.

Son of the late Charles and Barbara (nee Hagyard) Murray in Perth, brothers, Bill Murray (Charlotte) of Chester NS, Tom Murray of Calgary and sister, Ruth Lunn (Garry) of North Vancouver.   Ted was predeceased by his daughter, Shannon (a.k.a. Ishnoo) and brother, Jim Murray.

Born August 25, 1964 in Ottawa he was precocious from the time he was a toddler and a natural entertainer. He was very good at telling bad jokes, especially the “Dad joke” genre. Ted was an “if life gives you lemons make lemonade” type of guy. He always seemed to find the lighter side of occasions, when called upon to provide for the growing needs of his parents in their later years he did so with laughter and levity.

His collection of stories and experiences working at the gas bar he called “Corner Gas” are book worthy.  A favourite story he recently told was of a customer not being able to comprehend that the reason there was no ice was because the ice machine was broken. After asking yet again why there was no ice, Ted told him he didn’t have the recipe to which the customer replied “Uh Okay “.

Ted had a stint in the late 1980’s as a weekend night DJ for a country music station in Peterborough. He enjoyed the entertainment part segueing him into a DJ business as a sideline which morphed into the Karaoke business which he enjoyed immensely.  Being able to sing was probably was a large part of the enjoyment. He encouraged everyone, no matter how reluctant, to try karaoke. He only denied two songs to people - Bohemian Rhapsody and Friends In Low Places because these particular tunes are usually sung very badly. If anyone insisted on singing either of these songs he probably told them he didn’t have the recipe.

Ted moved to Pembroke in the past year but soon realized how happy he was returning to Carleton Place where he was closer to Chris, Carolyn, Kay, Harmony and his many friends.  Upon his return he found his way back into radio broadcasting doing Friday nights at  Valley Heritage Radio 98.7 FM In Renfrew. Last Friday, Ted had a fatal stroke on the drive back from Renfrew to his home in Carleton Place. Before leaving for home, he replied to a text from a friend who wrote “Thanks for another great Friday evening”. His response to that message neatly summed up Ted’s life view -

“Man, that was fun!”

Friends may visit on Tuesday, May 23, 2023 from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at the Alan R. Barker Funeral Home, 19 McArthur Avenue, Carleton Place, Ontario.  A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, May 24 at 12 noon in the Chapel.

The service will be livestreamed, search YouTube for:  BarkerFH Edward Murray  starting at 11:55 a.m.

Memorial donations can be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

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