Edward (Ed) Pryor
Edward (Ed) Pryor born October 20, 1949 – deceased January 2, 2025.
Ed was born in Whitehorse on October 20, 1949, to Marlis and Ken Pryor. The family later relocated to Cassiar, BC when Ken had the contract to supply the town and mine with wood. Ed spent his childhood in Cassiar before being sent to Vancouver for post-secondary education.
Ed first stepped on a plane when he was 10 years old. Flying instantly became a passion, and when Ed was old enough to get his license, he built a career that would span over 40 years. He was a mentor to many younger pilots over the decades and many turned into lifelong friends. Ed flew across the North from Yukon, NWT, Nunavut and Alaska. He flew varying disciplines, from float planes to bird dog for forest fires to medevacs. Medevacs is where the majority of Ed’s career was spent. Medevacs was a way to combine his love of flying with helping fellow northerners when they needed it most.
In his retirement, he loved to tell stories about life growing up in the North and he loved to travel, often spending time in Mexico or Hawaii. Ed inspired younger generations of pilots with stories of adverse conditions (“they were gentler times” he would often say) and the related successes. Ed will be missed by many friends he made throughout his life.
Left behind to carry on his stories are daughters Wendy (Brent) Eby and Kelsey Wiersma; grandchildren Kira (Shaun) Porter, Charley (Cameron) Smith-Schofield, Elisabeth, Lee and Lucas Wiersma. Dad was lucky to have met his first great -granddaughter Peri.
Ed is survived by his sister Charlotte (Bill) Mitchell of Delta, BC.
Ed will be deeply missed by his partner of almost 25 years, Lenore Calnan.
Ed was pre-deceased his father in 1967, mother in 1988 and by son in laws Bruce Schofield in 2001 and Dwight Wiersma in 2022.
There is a missing piece of our family that can never be replaced.
We are so thankful for the exceptional care that Dad received during his battles with cancer. Dr Savage, from BC Cancer, was with Ed from the start and through her expertise and knowledge, 10 years were added to Ed’s life.
We also would like to thank Dr Van Camp for his care, knowledge and management of Dad’s case in Whitehorse. Dad loved sharing stories of the north with a fellow northerner.
Thank you to the Cancer Care team at Whitehorse General Hospital. Each person played a role in giving Dad more time to enjoy life.
We also want to thank the nursing staff of Whitehorse General for their care and professionalism in Emerg, Medical and ICU units.
In lieu of flowers, a donation to BC Cancer, Lymphoid Cancer Research.
Neil P
Condolences to the family!
Ed, I told you to cut back on those pickled banana peppers that I watched you eat next to me!! (I can see him grinning, and laughing as I say that)
I was one of those newbie-Pilots that benefited from Ed’s experience, and mentorship. For me it was 35+ years ago. We flew scheduled flights all day, and medevac and charter flights all day/night for almost 10 years. I spent a ton of time with Ed and learned a lot from him. He eventually went to explore the east coast for a short time, and then returned to YXY, and I was able to hire him back.
I’m sure that I could tell about 30 hours of Ed-stories myself, but I’m not the only one. I’ve literally been passing over Whitehorse on my way to Japan and had a First Officer tell me stories about HIS experiences flying in Yukon, and this legendary character Ed Pryor. I’ve even actually had my own stories with Ed told back to me. Too funny!
It’s too bad that he wouldn’t come to the “big-show” with us. I would have loved to have seen him in Frankfurt or Shanghai, SE-grin, laughing and tossing a few back. He could have easily done it, but I don’t think he was truly able to leave Whitehorse and his family behind.
And, Ed’s exactly who you want to sit beside all day…a “pilots-pilot” as we say…a competent driver who’ll let you sleep easy in the bunk, and laugh your ass off upfront.
Remember…Don’t let down too early, or it’s “LABERGE, WIPERS, WIPERS, and then you’ll have to kick the ADF out of panel and continue the approach on foot!!…”
See you on the other side Ed!
Capt. Neil P. B787 AC
Sam Brennan
Always enjoyed crossing paths with Ed. He was a wonderful story teller and pilots pilot. Rest in peace. Deepest condolences to his family.
Brian Langevin
Condolences to Lenore, to Ed’s daughters and to all that enjoyed Ed’s tales.
He was one of the Yukon’s “Colourful 5% in aviation”
Thank you Ed for your mentorship and your friendship.
“Tailwinds and blue skies on your final heavenly voyage”
Hopefully when I raise up through the clouds one last time you will be there to greet me.
Brian
Sylvia Achter
I am another that had the great fortune of flying with Ed. We became great friends. I learned so much from him, and all of it has stuck with me to this day. Sadly, life gets in the way of pretty much everything, and we weren’t in touch for many years. Even so, the respect I had for him never waned. I’ll never forget 2:00 am beers at the Wax Museum, after a YXY-YVR-YXY roundtrip.
Rest easy, my friend. Until we meet again.
Bryan Parsons
Ed and I flew together many times, once, departing Terrace B.C. Ed was in the right seat of the Cessna 402, and I thought I was on the localized back course when I realized I was on the wrong side, headed for the mountain. After correcting my error I glanced at Ed and asked him why he hadn’t corrected me. *I knew you’d figure it out* was his reply..
Hugh Kitchen
“We don’t know where we are, but we’re making pretty good time”.
Ed’s final trip to the big hangar in the sky.
HK
Brian Kitchen
Ed was our neighbour for many years until he moved to Dawson. He was quite the character and quite the jokester. I remember him being the pilot when I was flying from Old Crow in 1990 during the forest fire there. He asked me if I wanted to sit in the co-pilot’s seat for the flight. I remember his big body frame sitting in the pilot’s seat of a small plane with his knees up around his chin as we took off. He was rocking back and forth in his seat egging the plane on as the plane was rolling down the tarmac …..saying with a deadpan expression …. “you can do it …you can do it …I think we’ll make it up this time “. Then in mid flight after an hour of flying he started tapping repeatedly with his finger on a dial on the instrument panel that read “Empty” and saying “Oh Shit …I knew I forgot something” ……
Then there was the time he totally disrupted the Snow Birds Air Show when the announcer said that an incoming emergency medivac had priority airspace and the airshow was on hold while it landed. Ed stole the show that day landing the plane to a crowd of applause. When I asked him about it afterwards his deadpan reply was
” I always wanted to do that” ….
Karen Parsons
Hot banana peppers, oh my! I watched him wolf down many a jar, him giggling at my look of disgust. Ed lived with Bryan and I a number of times over the years, and the stories I could tell you… most involving alcohol and stuck vehicles and mornings after. Always a high quality friend, and we don’t get a lot of those in life, I love you Ed, I hope it’s good over there. My love and condolences to Lenore, and of course to all his family.