Dr Edward Hartley reposes in the Lord

Saturday, July 13, 2019 saw the passing of Dr Edward Hartley of Surrey, B.C. Dr Hartley studied medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and after graduation moved to Vancouver, B.C. in 1964 where he began a family medical practice. He married Vivian Robertson in 1967 and together they had three children: James, and the twins Andrea and Maria. Dr. Ed was well-known as a beloved doctor who was devoted to his patients. He was also well-known as a local iconographer. Converting to Orthodoxy from Anglicanism in 1971, he built an Orthodox chapel in his backyard, and with his wife Vivian founded an Orthodox church under the omophor leadership of Bishop Joasaph of the Orthodox Church in America. After a time under the Ukrainian Orthodox Church the little mission returned to their roots in the Orthodox Church in America with the arrival of Fr Lawrence Farley to lead the mission under newly-consecrated Bishop Seraphim Storheim in 1987.

Dr Ed and his family remained pillars of the mission and watched happily as it grew, serving as a Reader in the church he founded. During his life Dr Ed painted many icons which he freely gave away as gifts and which adorn many homes and churches. He retired from his family medical practice in 2004. He is predeceased by his wife Vivian who died in November 2013 after a battle with cancer. 

He is survived by his three children and seven grandchildren. Funeral services are to be held at St. Herman of Alaska Orthodox Church at 7221 - 198B Street in Langley. A panikhida will be served on Friday July 19, 7.00 p.m. and the funeral itself on Saturday July 20 at 10am. Lunch and burial to follow. May Dr Ed’s memory be eternal!