Edward 'Ted' John Davis

Edward (Ted) John Davis, who spent his life choosing the interesting path over the easy one, who made no compromises on a life well lived, and who impressed everyone he met with his ability to get things done, passed away in Red Deer on Dec. 17, 2025.

Ted was born in Victoria, BC Sept. 27, 1943.  His father was killed in service in the Second World War shortly after Ted’s birth, so it was just Ted and his mother June during his early childhood.  June later married Lloyd Alexander - who became a cherished father to Ted – and the family moved to Edmonton.  Lloyd and June had three more children, Anita, Marni and Robert, and Ted embraced being a big brother to them.

Ted loved the outdoors from a young age, and as a teen he and his best friend Glen would often head to the woods, canoeing, camping and hiking. 

After attending high school in Red Deer, Ted headed to Halifax to work for the railway.  He happily told a story of getting upset at his boss over some transgression and catching a bunch of pigeons in a sack and releasing them in the boss’ office. 

He then moved to Germany with Glen and worked there as a surveyor.  In Munich, he met Elizabeth and they were soon married.  They returned to Canada and started a family in Edmonton, with daughter Barbara and son Ted Jr. born soon after.

Ted always felt at home in the wilderness and he worked as a surveyor, often in the remote and northern reaches of Western Canada.  His brother Rob recalls Ted’s philosophy about the often-difficult conditions he would find himself in.  While most of the workers would spend their day trying to stay dry by tiptoeing around the muskeg, Ted would start the morning by walking in right up to his knees.  That way he wouldn’t have to worry about getting wet for the rest of the day.  This was typical, as he never was one to tiptoe around uncomfortable things. Ted became an expert with an axe, chopping trees to run cutlines through dense bush and forest.  One year at Thanksgiving Ted couldn’t find a sharp knife, so he proceeded to carve the turkey with his trusty Oxhead axe, which he kept very sharp.

When the company he was working for introduced chain saws to the crews, Ted at first resisted.  He recalled tossing them into the water so they wouldn’t run, so he could go back to using his axe.  He did eventually become a very skilled chain saw user as well.

After arriving back in the city after stints working up north, Ted would often cart the family off to the mountains for camping or canoeing trips.  The trips happened winter or summer, rain or shine, giving the family a glimpse of the experiences Ted had in the bush on a regular basis. His daughter Barb recalls one trip when she was just a young girl where they were on an overnight snowshoeing trip in the mountains.  She was crossing over a creek on a log and not enjoying the frigid weather.  After getting goaded by her dad to move along, she fell straight backward into the frigid but flowing creek.  Luckily Ted was also an expert at getting a good fire started, so he was able to warm her up and dry her soaked clothes. On another early spring canoeing trip, the perils of packing up sleeping bags and clothes in black garbage bags became evident when they realized that they had accidentally brought actual garbage, with the gear back home waiting for the garbage man.  Even then, the trip went on and the family headed down the river.

Ted was a voracious reader and anyone who went to his home would see stacks of books on a multitude of topics on any flat surface available.  Barb recalled many trips to the bookstore with Ted, and notes he introduced her to Margaret Atwood by buying a copy of The Edible Woman for her.

Starting as a teen, Ted always loved motorcycles.  In various points in his life he owned multiple bikes, from crotch rockets to Harleys and everything in between.  And he was no fair-weather rider.  His brother Rob recalls driving with a friend on the highway north of Red Deer on winter day, when the roads were snow covered and slippery.  When they saw a motorcycle rider heading towards them on the other side of the highway, Rob’s friend exclaimed “look at that idiot!” Rob proudly replied “that’s my brother,” as Ted passed by them.

Another time, Ted decided to take his son for a motorcycle ride in the winter.  Sitting on the back of the bike, the young Ted was a bit confused as Ted Sr. headed toward the boat access of the lake his parents had property on.  Ted steered onto the frozen, snow-covered lake and gunned it towards a group of snowmobilers heading up the lake.  Their heads snapped around when two men on a touring motorcycle whipped by them like they were standing still, snow whipping in the wake.

Along with various other bikes, Ted purchased a Harley Davidson with a sidecar, so he could take his dog Shelby along.  When he would make a stop people always gathered around to visit the black lab, sitting happily in the sidecar with her goggles on.

After working as a surveyor, farmer, real estate agent, salesman, log home builder and oilfield service worker, Ted started his own oilfield service company, Abacus Datagraphics, in Lacombe, AB in 1992.  He said he started the company so that he could treat his employees the way he wanted to be treated. 

True to his word Ted ran Abacus like a family (a ‘big, dysfunctional one’ by his description) and he took care of his employees.  Ted always had a dog, and where Ted went, so too did his dogs.  That included the office, and Ted’s sister Anita recalls stopping by the downtown Abacus office and being met by Ted’s dog as well as the wagging tails of other employees’ dogs.

Ted excelled in running the business, moving the office to Red Deer and growing Abacus to 80 employees.  The company thrived because Ted never blindly accepted the way things were normally done and suggested new ways to solve problems.  Abacus introduced innovations to pipeline locating, facility mapping and call before you dig services that were eventually adopted by other companies across the province.  He also initiated the development of AbaData, a web-based mapping program still used by thousands across Western Canada.

Shortly after starting Abacus, Ted saw an opportunity to give back to the community by hosting a Christmas dinner at a Lacombe community centre for anyone who wanted to attend.  After moving to Red Deer, the dinner continued to grow, and Abacus staff would spend much of the month of November preparing for the event.  Soon the dinner included a hot turkey and ham dinner, hoodies, hats and mittens for all attendees and a nice Christmas toy for each of the children who attended.  Considering the dinner saw up to 500 attendees, it became an important event for the Red Deer community.  Ted ensured that the dinner welcomed anyone who was looking for a good meal, some company and a friendly spot out of the cold, regardless of their situation.

After running Abacus for 20 years, Ted sold the company to a group of employees and moved on to the next stage of his life. 

At 68 years old, he wasn’t remotely interested in retiring and instead bought a resort on the Fraser River, just west of Mount Robson.  Tete Jaune Lodge featured a campground, motel rooms and a restaurant but was in need of some upgrades to get it back on track.  Ted had always thought about running a campground, and he quickly got to work, fixing up rooms, building new washrooms, showers and laundry facilities and multiple bunkies for cyclists wanting a night out of the elements.  

He got the restaurant opened back up and soon Tete Jaune Lodge was fully booked over its spring to fall season, with online reviewers generally glowing about their experience there.  He and his partner Yvonne ran the Lodge with the same philosophy as he had at Abacus – take care of the employees and provide their guests with the best experience they could.  He believed strongly that the most important thing in business – and in life – was to operate with integrity.  And just as in Red Deer, Ted and Yvonne embraced the local community.  They hosted Thanksgiving and Christmas events, creating a home for staff and community members and always worked with local businesses.

They continued to operate the Lodge right up until Ted became ill in October, 2025 just after getting the Lodge closed for winter.  

Lying in bed with a book in hand, one of his final concerns at 82 years old was that he still had a lot of work he needed to get done.

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