Edmund Gray Coutts, age 56, died July 29th, 2018 at home. He was born November 19th, 1961 in Elsie Inglis Maternity Hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom to Louisa and Archibald Coutts and is the youngest sibling of 4.
He was a brilliantly smart man with a Masters in Chemistry, having worked as a sewage inspector, to making cellophane, to even working on spy submarines. He eventually moved into IT after he started having allergic reactions to the chemicals he worked with. He has worked for IBM in Germany, then eventually worked in America, bringing his wife and daughter with him to Chicago at first, then moving to Florida for the sunshine. He eventually worked with CA and then Nemours Children’s Hospital. This is only a fraction of what he had done in his short life, having worked the odd job here and there from digging graves in a cemetery to a park ranger, a man of many talents.
He was an avid fan of football, or soccer for Americans, having played as a young boy at Mayfield Primary School, then for Newbattle High School, where he eventually was picked up by a professional football team, but became homesick and returned home to continue his higher education. Once he moved to America, he began coaching for the Jacksonville Youth Soccer Club League with an all boys team, then at San Jose Catholic School, then returning to JYSC to coach an all girls team to which his daughter was apart of. He never really did it for the pay, in fact it was voluntary, he did it for the joy of the sport, and he has many plaques that tell of how thankful all of his athletes were for him coaching them, even recognizing him when they saw him on the street and calling him Coach Eddie, still thanking him for the hard work he put into them to make them better athletes and people. In his youth he played all sorts of sports, from basketball to badminton, and always putting his best effort into the task at hand.
He was a family man, calling his mother and father every weekend while they were living, letting them know how he was and how he was fairing. After that, he would call his sisters, Molly and Sheona over Facebook, when he remembered to, to check in on them, too. He would do his best to go to every single one of his daughter’s activities, be it soccer, since he also coached her, theatre productions, and most of all, swim meets, watching every training video he could get his hands on to do his best to help her be the best swimmer she could be.
He has left behind one daughter, Heather; his sisters, Molly and Sheona; brother-in-laws, Steve and Derek; two nieces and nephews, who all live in Scotland still. He also left one pet behind who loved him very much, an Australian Cockatiel named Bird.
He met a lot of people in his life and touched their hearts in one way or anther. His personality made you laugh and smile, especially if you understood his accent and humor. He will be sadly missed by family and friends.
Visitation will be held from 10:00 to 11:00 am on Saturday, August 18th in Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home of Mandarin. A Celebration of Edmund's Life will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, August 18th in Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home of Mandarin.
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