Edward James Longard

Born in Halifax on Nov.16,1922, Edward was the youngest son of Sarah (Wright) and Alfred Longard.

Edward was married to Ruby (Winfield) on August 4th 1948 in Jordan Falls and had a happy marriage for almost 65 years until Ruby’s death in July 2013. They raised five children from their home in Fairview.

Edward was a hard working, dedicated husband and father who loved working with his hands as long as they were covered in glue or fibreglass. He built endless projects with materials others would discard believing there was always a purpose for the smallest piece of wood or cereal box. Ed converted an old Volkswagen into a unique bug winning him the Golden Hammer award from Mechanics Illustrated magazine. Ed never sat idle but preferred to be in his workshop or garage working on a project. At the cottage on Little Mushamush Lake in the summer he was often found in the basement working on a project when others were heading to bed.

Ed was a school teacher and opened the minds of many young students before moving to the Nova Scotia Museum where he retired as the Chief Curator of Exhibits in 1983. You can still see many of his display cases and dioramas which were all built first as models and then scaled up to life size exhibits.

Edward is survived by his children; Janet Sabean (Barry) of Mt. Denson; Shirley Zwicker (Barry) of Dartmouth; Donald (Donna) of Halifax; David (Sharon) of Halifax and Gary (Krista) of Oakland. He was loved by all his grandchildren; Greg (Krista), Michael (Jen), Andrew (Kelly), Sarah, Amy (Jeremy), Laura (Jason), Beth, Julie, Isaac and Hanna. He had six great grandchildren; Jenna, Alexander, Zachary, Lucas, Marley and Kaden.

Edward was predeceased by his brother, John; his sisters, Gladys and Annie and his loving wife Ruby.

The family wishes to express many thanks to Denise and Sherman who provided quality care and friendship as his caregivers.

Visitation will be held at JA Snow Funeral Home on Thursday, Sept. 8th from 7:00-9:00 p.m. A celebration of Edward’s life will be held on Friday Sept. 9th at 2:00 p.m. in Bethany United Church, Clinton Ave. and will be officiated by Rev. Kevin Little. The reception will follow in the Bethany Fellowship Hall.

Ed and Ruby were generous to many charities so if you wish to make a donation in his memory you may choose one that is meaningful to you.