Ed was born on March 13, 1936 to Bill and Alice Babakioff (nee Sterlioff) in a small village on Spencer Hill. Ed lived in the village until his early teens, then moved with his family to a new home a short distance away. At the age of sixteen, he began horse logging with his father but after a year, he was hired by the Sherbinis in Midway to work up in the woods; which was later bought out by Pope & Talbot. Ed worked for them for over forty-four years as an enthusiastic and skillful loader operator until the age of sixty when he retired.
During those busy years, he found time to visit the USCC Youth Festival where he met a young choir participant from Castlegar; Molly Nevakshonoff. After a couple of years of courtship, they were united in marriage on April 5th, 1958. Ed’s interests included mushroom picking, country music, listening to the police scanner and watching his favourite TV shows, like Gunsmoke and Hee-Haw. He especially loved to go for wood and spending time outdoors. Ed was dedicated to providing for his family, working hard and spending his money wisely.
In the last couple of months, Ed’s health started to decline and he passed away peacefully on February 20, 2017 at Hardy View Lodge where he resided for the last sixteen years. Ed was a loving dedicated husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle.
Ed is survived by his wife Molly of fifty nine years, 3 children; Dale (Terry), Vicky, Rick and six grandchildren; Ryan, Rory, Brittany, Shelby, Tyson and Sara. He is also survived by his brothers Bill and Steve (Nina), sister-in-law Emma (Bill), sister-in-law Lucy (Larry) and all his nieces and nephews.
The family would like to take this opportunity to thank his doctor, all of the health care providers at Hardy View for taking such good care of Ed during his sixteen-year stay.
Funeral arrangements were entrusted to the Baker Family of Grand Forks Funeral Home.