Jim Bedford

1956 - 2018

Edward James Bedford, beloved husband of Shirley Bedford, passed away in Calgary, surrounded by his family, on Thursday, July 5, 2018 at the age of 62 years.

The Funeral Service was held at Knox United Church, 4929 - 50 Avenue, Taber on Wednesday, July 11, 2018 at 2:00 P.M. A private service followed at the Taber Memorial Garden.

Besides Shirley his loving wife of twenty five years, Jim is survived by his six children and twelve grandchildren Tyler, Cara and Callen Bedford of Edmonton; Steven, Melissa, Siena and Kai Bedford and Kaeden and Quinn Souter of Sylvan Lake; Shane Utke, Lera Myers and Roland Tomter of Coleman; Tyler, Shawna, Hunter and Carter Utke of Taber; Logan Utke, Jen Westerhoud and Grayson and Skylar Utke of Taber; Courtney, Kevin, Reid and Avery Kunz of Taber. He is also survived by his sister Debbie (Ted) Benson of Bowen Island, British Columbia. Jim will be dearly missed by all of his family and many friends.

He was predeceased by his parents Maxine and Ted Bedford, grandparents Ed and Florence Bedford, Jim and Emma McEwen and Leonard Hepburn.

Jim was born in Virden, Manitoba on May 22, 1956. He attended school in Virden and graduated from Virden Collegiate. Jim was an avid football player in high school and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were his team.

Jim worked in Red Deer after high school and returned to Winnipeg to attend Red River Community College where he studied Environmental Technology. He married in 1980 and lived in Virden where his sons Tyler and Steven were born. Jim worked at Continental Emsco in Virden and then moved to Taber to manage their store.In 1993 he opened Midfield Supply in Taber with Ken Fritz. In the fall of 2010 he left to manage Baron Oilfield Supply where he was employed at the time of his passing.

In 1993, Jim married Shirley and four more children joined his family. He was devoted to his six children and twelve grandchildren and to his dog Raz. Nothing was more important to him than his family and his wife Shirley. They enjoyed their life together, especially riding their Harley's The last few winters they spent at their home in Arizona which Jim enjoyed immensely. Another of his favourite hobbies was power lifting.

If friends so desire, memorial tributes in Jim’s name may be made directly to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Alberta, Box 2211, Lethbridge, Alberta T1J 4K7 www.heartandstroke.ca or to the Canadian Cancer Society, 200, 325 Manning Road NE, Calgary, Alberta T2E 2P5 www.cancer.ca.

Jim’s family would like to thank everyone who worked so hard to save his life. They include his co-workers at Baron, the ambulance crew and doctors and staff at the Taber Hospital, the STARS team that flew Jim to Calgary and the amazing and caring staff at ICCU at Foothills Hospital. Thank you to all of Jim's friends who have given their support to the family.