From the earth’s bottom to its highest point -- ocean seabed cabling, nuclear submarine simulators, land based military equipment, aerospace flight simulators to developing space-craft – the career of Peter Edwards, who just joined the Rotary Club of Ladner, has spanned a wide range of telecommunications and technology in the United Kingdom and many years in Canada.
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| Past President Brian Coe presents the Rotary pin to Peter Edwards on being inducted as a new member of the club by Past District Governor Penny Offer (2nd right) with sponsor Ulf Ottho (right) and Denis Denischuk (left) | |
Peter was born in Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK after his mother had evacuated there for safety, from Southeast London, away from the fierce World War II bombing of their community. Two siblings eventually arrived while the family lived there.In Bromley, Kent, Peter attended a Grammar School and then went on to study telecommunications at Woolwich Polytechnic, now part of London University.
His first job was development engineer for submerged transatlantic telephone cable equipment. Then he returned to college to study business administration and contract law.
In 1967 he married his first wife, a nurse at a hospital in Essex, and they had a son the following year and a daughter in 1970. A number of job changes led to the family’s relocating from Essex to West Sussex. Sadly his first wife died of cancer in 1996, at the early age of 48. Two years later he met then eventually married his wife, now of 25 years, Linda.
From his work with a company which developed and installed equipment for the early electronic handling of Royal Mail letters using punch cards, carried to a main-frame computer for processing and then returning with armfuls of printed paper – well before personal computers. Then he began working at a company as Contracts Manager, negotiating contracts with primarily international military clients for battlefield communications equipment.
In 2001 Peter moved to this region with Linda to accept a position with MDA in Richmond (formerly MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates) to work in their Space Missions group as a Contracts Manager. It was to have been a two year stint, but they decided to stay and have since become Canadian citizens.
Starting with guitar at age 14, Peter eventually played in various folk and Ceilidh bands since the late 70's, in the UK and here, leading the Doghouse Folk Band for 13 years, playing fiddle, squeeze boxes, banjo, mandolin and occasional guitar. He also had been an avid proponent of, and participant in, the ancient UK tradition of Morris Dancing, both in the UK and with the Vancouver Morris Men.
He continues to be actively involved in Freemasonry in this community and the province including President of a Masonic-supported charity, The Keystone of Life Foundation, which makes $10K grants to hospitals throughout BC for purchase of small pieces of medical equipment.
Peter has been a member of Rotary Club of Tsawwassen since 2010 and has been very active there on various committees over the years.
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| Peter Roaf and Past President Brian Coe thank Peter Edwards for this "classification" speech (about one's life and career) following his induction as a new member of the club |