After a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, Charles Edmund "Ed" Pomeroy passed away peacefully surrounded by loved ones on July 17, 2026, at Shoreham Village in Chester, Nova Scotia.
Ed was born Donald MacKinnon in Sydney, Nova Scotia on August 16, 1943, and was given for adoption as an infant. He was adopted as Charles Edmund Pomeroy and raised by John and Mary Frances Pomeroy. He spent most of his early years in Cape Breton living in Sydney and Main-a-Dieu. In his late teens, his adopted father passed and he moved to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia with his mother.
In Dartmouth, Ed met the love of his life, Violet Wentzell. They were both working at the Nova Scotia Hospital, Violet as a nurse in training and Ed as an attendant. He later went to work at the Victoria General Hospital as a blood technician and began a lifetime career in healthcare. Ed and Vi married in 1966 and started their family in Halifax with three sons: John, James and Peter.
Never one to sit still, Ed took correspondence courses in Health Management from the University of Saskatchewan while working at the VG. He successfully attained a Certificate in Hospital Administration. He was a lifelong learner and continued to achieve a CHE designation with the College of Health Services Executives, and both bachelor and master’s levels from the Canadian School of Management. He was a Fellow of Health Services Administration in Long Term Care. In his early career, Ed took a job as administrator at the Blacks Harbour Hospital in Blacks Harbour, New Brunswick. After three years there, the Pomeroy family moved to Oromocto, New Brunswick where Ed became a CEO in a new company providing health management services to rural nursing homes and health centers in western New Brunswick. Ed and Vi lived and raised their family in Oromocto for thirteen years.
With the boys mostly raised, Ed and Vi took on yet another challenge in Hagersville, Ontario. They uprooted and moved there where Ed became the administrator of the West Haldimand-Norfolk General Hospital.
After seven years in Ontario, Ed and Vi made the decision to move back home to Nova Scotia. They moved to Bridgewater, eventually building their forever home at the lake. Ed took on a new challenge as administrator of Harbourview Haven Nursing home in Lunenburg, where he worked for ten years. He finished his career at Harbour View.
Ed was well known and well regarded in the health services administration field. He was a certified nursing home and hospital accreditation surveyor and travelled across Canada evaluating hospitals and nursing homes in many provinces.
Ed was always interested in his ancestry and sought out his roots in Cape Breton. After many years of searching and DNA testing, Ed discovered he had an extended biological family there. He established strong relationships with his half-brother, Hugh Allan Cameron, and his wife Andrea, his half-sister, Margaret MacIntyre and her husband Sandy and, more recently, his half-sister, Carole Chisholm.
If ever there was a force for good in this world it was Ed. He had a kind heart and was a friend to all who knew him. Wherever he lived, he was an active member of his community. He has a long history of public service including coaching and supporting various sports teams as the boys grew up, volunteer firefighter with the Italy Cross/Middlewood & District Volunteer Fire Department, and past president of the Central Nova ATV Club. He was also a longtime member of the Bridgewater and District Rotary Club (Paul Harris Fellow) and the Lions Club in Ontario.
Ed loved cars and driving fast! He was a member of the Atlantic Sportscar Club in Halifax in the 1960’s. He drove tour busses in his retirement and a school bus. Ed also loved to go on longer trips with Vi. They were always on the road covering the back roads of all the maritime provinces on drives. Together, they drove across Canada (with three kids!) to Expo 86 in Vancouver, returning to Canada across the northern United States. Ed and Vi have travelled to almost all the Canadian Provinces and States in the US. They took many trips south to Florida, the Caribbean, and abroad to Europe, Africa and Australia.
Ed is survived by his wife of sixty years, Violet; sons John (Suzanne) of St. Martins, New Brunswick, James (Heather) of Halifax, Peter (Debbie) of Dartmouth; half-brother Hugh Allan Cameron (Andrea) of Kenloch, Nova Scotia, half-sister Margaret MacIntyre of Inverness, Nova Scotia, half-sister Carole Chisholm of Nevada Valley, Nova Scotia; and seven grandchildren: Jackson (Autumn), Wyatt, Alex, Sophie, Liam, Haley and Finn. He is also survived by his sister-in-law Edith Whynot (Leroy) of Oakhill, Elizabeth Aulenback (Robert) of Auburndale and Karen Wentzell-Publicover of Halifax and many nieces and nephews.
Ed was predeceased by his adopted parents and his biological parents, and his half-brother, Donald Archy Cameron.
Ed’s family would like to express their enormous gratitude to the staff of Shoreham Village for the care and friendship they provided while he was there. There will be no visitation. A funeral service will be held on Wednesday, July 22 at 11:00am at St. Paul’s Evangelical Church at 25 Phoenix Street in Bridgewater. A private interment will follow at Brookside Cemetery in Bridgewater. There will be a reception and celebration of Ed’s life following interment. His family welcomes you to join them. Memorial donations can be made to the Alzheimer Society of Nova Scotia, St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Bridgewater or a charity of your choice.
On-line condolences may be made by visiting www.corkumfuneralhome.ca