Ray Edge
EDGE, RAYMOND "RAY" Son of Mary Colborne and Edward Edge, descendent of Sir John Colborne, Lt. Governor of Upper Canada, Baron Lord Seaton, passed over peacefully, on June 10, 2021, at the age of 73, surrounded by the love of his wife, Joyce Edge, and all those whose lives have been deeply touched by him. He will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 21 years, Joyce Edge, his sister Mary O'Leary, his cousin Michael Powell, everyone in the homeopathic community, and the musical community where his contributions were many. As a husband, Ray was incredibly thoughtful, loving, kind, and loyal. Ray was an inspiring musician, homeopath, Dean, entrepreneur, and artist.
Raymond began his career in the healing arts as a medical herbalist, graduating from the Dominion Herbal College in 1978. He graduated from the School of Homoeopathy on-campus program in Devon, England and was the Director of the Mirianog West Children's Clinic in Wales, providing low-cost homeopathic treatment for underprivileged children. On his return to Toronto, Ray courageously founded the Canadian College of Homeopathic Medicine in 1994 and the College is now the longest running Homeopathic College in North America. Ray inspired, taught, and trained hundreds of other people in the medical art of homeopathy and leaves behind the most amazing legacy of healing which will continue well past his own life span. While in practice, Raymond was a registered professional member of the North American Society of Homeopaths (NASH), the College of Homeopaths (CHO), and was also certified in classical homeopathy with the Council for Homeopathic Certification (CHC). Ray retired in 2019 from his positions as Dean, core lecturer, and clinical supervisor at the Canadian College of Homeopathic Medicine. We are all grateful to Raymond for his tremendous contributions to the field of homeopathy in Canada, and worldwide. He has done as much or more for homeopathy in North America than any individual in the past hundred years.
Few people know what a wonderful visual artist Ray was. His paintings show the depth of feeling and care in his soul. Ray's gentle spirit shows through his art in a love for detail and beauty. This same care and loving attention showed in all other areas of his life as well, but perhaps most of all in his music. Ray began his career in music in his teens and was a wonderful singer, songwriter and guitar player. He played in many bands including Dollars, Dealer's Choice, and Ray Edge and the Sensations. In 2005, Ray released his solo album Soul Connection for which he received the award for Top Male Artist from the Toronto Independent Music Awards and several of the songs on his album ranked highly in both the American and British songwriting competitions. To quote a fellow musician: "There is a difference between musicians. Most of us are players, we are accompanists and our collective effort produces a pleasing result. There are lead singers, whose ego drives them to the front of the band with nothing more than their voice and a microphone. We often refer to these folks as suffering from Lead Singer Syndrome and you can guess the effect that dynamic has upon the rest of the band. Then there are musicians like Ray who are both players and singers and thereby creators of music. Ray's creativity and leadership produced more than a pleasing result for all of us. He gave us some turning points in our lives from which to navigate better courses".
Forever the coolest guy in the room, Ray sang in his song "Time Enough for Love", that "the problems of the world don't seem to faze me." Truly, Ray's easy-going personality, brilliant sense of humour, and ability to bring a vision into creative being were a unique combination of qualities. Indeed anyone who knew Ray found him to be loveable, funny, and just good to be around. Ray cared deeply for others and actively sought to ease the sufferings of people, animals, and the world at large. The world is a better place for having known Ray's shining spirit; he showed us all that an individual can make a huge impact with their life. Ray was both a cool person and a shining example of love at the same time.
1999 was a big year for Ray, he met the love of his life Joyce on 10/23/99 – a year later to the day, he proposed marriage to her, and was married in the glorious celebration evening of December 16, 2000. The date was picked by geomancer Paul Ng, as it formed a golden triangle from the times of their birth, representing an unbreakable union, and that is what it turned out to be. Not only was it a tremendous romance, the relationship inspired many of the songs on his award-winning CD in 2005, and Joyce also eventually abandoned her previous career and joined Ray to help him run the school in 2008. So going forward, they were pretty much together 24/7, and a more harmonious relationship has never existed.
