Ellis Shane Ede

Born in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Shane died at home in Parkdale, Toronto after a year-long struggle with cancer. His childhood was spent in Edmonton and Hinton, Alberta, and North Bay, Ontario to where the family moved in 1963. Shane graduated from North Bay’s Chippewa Secondary School, then took a BA and MA at Toronto’s York University. He had completed all but the dissertation to earn a doctorate when he decided that a life in academia wasn’t conducive to a life of learning. He dropped his degree but never stopped reading, studying, and searching for new questions and fresh answers. 

For more than fifty years Shane worked with watches and clocks, becoming legendary in the watch collecting community for his skill, honesty, and willingness to tackle timepieces others dismissed as unfixable. Though he loved the challenge of bringing a watch back to life, he found greater joy in meeting and talking with the people who brought him those watches. Many surprising conversations were sparked by Shane’s abrupt, “So, tell me what you do.”

At his death Shane left his wife Shelagh, stepdaughter Niamh (Andrew), grandsons Rowan and Kieran, sister Carol, and the children of his first wife, Kathy and Mark. He was predeceased by Percy Jackson (father), Phyllis (mother), and Margaret (wife).