Honoring Ed: A Life Remembered

This is for my good friend Ed H Grenfell, who was born on Dec. 26, 1960, and passed away on Sept. 15, 2024.

Let me start out by saying that I only knew Ed for a short 17 years. But the impact that he had on me was significant enough that I'm here doing this today. To be completely honest, when I first met Ed, I was terrified of the man. I'm not going to candy coat this, so please take everything that I'm telling you to heart. Ed, at the time, was living a rough life, and his body showed the wear and tear of drug abuse. He lived on the streets of Seattle in an RV with his girlfriend. I would frequently see him at the methadone clinic I had recently started going to. I got to know him and his girlfriend pretty well and would often try and help them out in any way that I could. That became the norm for many years.

One day Ed's girlfriend left and Ed was left to fend for himself. He had become so reliant on other people that he struggled to do some of the most basic stuff himself. I decided at that point that I would be around to help whenever I possibly could. I got Ed a cell phone so he could call whenever he needed anything. Little did I know that this was the point that Ed and I would become life long friends. I helped him find places to stay after losing his apartment. Unfortunately, some of these places weren't the nicest but it was better than the streets. During this time I got Ed signed up for housing through the state. Unfortunately there is very long line for housing and so this would be an almost 5 year wait.

That wait ended at the beginning of 2019 when Ed was approved for housing and we moved him into a one bedroom apartment in Seattle. Things changed almost overnight for Ed. He became stable in housing and got used to his new life. I set up a Facebook page for him and it led to him and his daughter reconnecting after many years apart. His daughter (Moria) was overly excited to be back in her Dad's life. Moria at the time had three kids and was living in Aberdeen with her boyfriend. Ed was excited knowing that he had grandkids he was going to get to know and love. Moria became a staple in Ed's life and they began repairing their relationship.

With Ed in housing my family and I helped him get everything he needed to get situated in his new home. We invited him to our home on a few occasions for BBQ's and get togethers. Ed had become so close with my family and I and you could tell how much he appreciated us and what we were doing for him. He would tell me all the time to "tell your parents how much I appreciate everything that they do for me." Ed was pretty much family at this point and we loved him as such.

Fast forward to a month ago. Ed came down with a nasty infection in his left leg which would eventually be labeled as Cellulitis. He spent 3 1/2 weeks in the hospital before coming home. Moria, and her now 4 year old daughter Ashlynn, had moved in with Ed to help him in his recovery after his hospital stay. Recovery seemed to be going okay until Sunday September the 15th. Moria had left to run some errands for a few hours and when she returned home she found Ed on the couch and sadly he had passed away. We don't know exactly what happened but he had heart problems from years ago so we are thinking it may have been a heart attack.

Ed is survived by his Daughter Moria and her four kids: Joslynn, Liam, Leif and Ashlynn. He has two younger sons, Jeremy and Kevin, who aren't really in the picture and haven't been for years. Ed will sadly be missed but remembered in so many good ways.

I decided to take the lead for the family on this GoFundMe page. It was Moria's idea but I told her that I would do this for her (and for Ed of course) in order to try and take some of this weight off of her.