Dr. Martin H. EDWARDS

Dr. Martin H. Edwards

Suddenly, while on a birding trip to the Amazon region of Brazil, in his 85th year on February 16, 2012. Martin was born in the UK on November 10, 1927 while his family were on a long holiday... Thus began his love of travel. The youngest of four, Martin was raised on a dairy farm in Chilliwack, BC. He attended the University of British Columbia, and obtained a B.A. with First Class Honours in Mathematics and Physics, and an MA in Nuclear Physics. He completed his Doctorate in Low Temperature Physics at the University of Toronto. Martin came to Kingston in 1954 as Assistant Professor of Physics at the Royal Military College. He became a full professor in 1961. Retiring after 41 years in 1995, he continued as an Emeritas Professor until his death. Martin took a strong interest and over the years assumed a leadership role in the preservation of nature and conservation. He was President of the Kingston Field Naturalists, President of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists, President of the Canadian Nature Federation and Canada's representative to the International Union of Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Martin's other passion, which began in the early 1950s was birdwatching. He was in the Guiness Book of World Records from 1985-1992 as having been one of the first individuals to have seen all of the families of birds in the world. His love of birds took him to many places in the world, and his life list of species of birds reached an impressive 8456 species, the highest for any Canadian and the fifth highest in the world. Married for 57 years to the late Norma Bloom, he is survived by a brother Glyn, of Ottawa, son David of Ottawa, daughter Barbara Canton (Jeffrey), and grandchildren John and Linda Canton all of Kingston, and many nieces, nephews and friends. A celebration of Martin's life will be held on Saturday May 5th at 2:00 pm at James Reid Funeral Home, Cataraqui Chapel, 1900 Counter Street, Kingston. In lieu of flowers, donations in Martin's memory, to the Kingston Field Naturalists would be appreciated by the family.