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About 75 people braved frigid, windy weather Sunday to attend a late-afternoon candlelight vigil in Smiths Falls in honour of Elizabeth Harris, who died Wednesday when the car she was driving was struck by a tractor-trailer.
The 29-year-old mother of three was remembered by family, friends and colleagues as a kind-hearted, loving person, especially when it came to her children.
“Everything that my sister did was for her children,” said Samantha Bordeleau. “She had the world ahead of her and it is very sad that we lost her. But I am thankful for every single person who has helped in any way. I can’t say enough to the people who have such caring hearts.”
“She gave me the best thing anybody could give me,” said Harris’s husband, Tommy. “She gave me three wonderful kids and a loving family, and anybody who met her knew right away she was an inspirational person.
“She would light up your life,” he said. “She would make you laugh, she would make you cry.”
A personal support worker with Care Partners, Harris had just dropped her children off at a daycare provider Wednesday morning, and was on her way to visit a client in Carleton Place when the collision occurred at the intersection of highways 7 and 15.
The mother of two girls — Dakota, 8, and Harlow, 4 — and a son, Leland, 6, Harris was the family’s sole provider. Tommy, from whom she had recently separated, had returned to school to also become a support worker.
Harris’s family hoped that Sunday’s vigil, held on the front walk of Smiths Falls Town Hall, would raise awareness of Ontario’s traffic laws after the driver of the tractor-trailer was charged with failing to stop at a red light. If convicted, he faces a $260 fine and three demerit points.
About 75 people, including four-year-old daughter Harlow Harris, front, attended a candelight vigil Sunday for 29-year-old Elizabeth Harris.
“We want to make people aware that we need to obey the rules of the road, to slow down when it’s wintertime, so nothing like this happens again,” said Harris’s aunt, Sylvie Brinkworth, who organized the event.
Sunday’s ceremony was not without some misfortune of its own, however. Apart from the wind that made the candle-lighting almost impossible, a car breakdown prevented Harris’s father, David Earl Lucas, and younger sister, Jennifer Lucas, from attending.
One attendee, Cathy Kinch, is a teacher at Perth’s St. James School, which the Harris children attend. She arrived Sunday with a handful of teachers from the school.
“We first met Elizabeth when she came to St. James to register Dakota, and we noticed that she had their names tattooed, and we knew of the great love that she had for them, and she was a great supporter of all of us who taught her children throughout the years.
“I taught Dakota for two years and I have Leland now. It’s a close-knit family school, and we’re all feeling the loss right now.”
A crowdfunding campaign, meanwhile, started to help the family with funeral and other expenses, was exceeding expectations. Its initial goal of $5,000 was surpassed in less than a day. As of Sunday afternoon, more than 600 people had donated in excess of $33,000. Erica Brown-Morrison, a friend of Harris’s who started the campaign, has increased the goal to $50,000.
“I started it Wednesday night when I got home from bowling,” she said. “It’s overwhelming how the community has pulled together for the kids and the family.”
She said the news of their mother’s death is only beginning to register with the children.
“It’s horrible. I saw them (Saturday) night. They’re trying as best as they can, but they’re not doing too well. (Dakota) kind of knows; she kept saying last night, ‘When mommy was here,’ and ‘When mommy was alive,’ but it hasn’t sunk in with the other two.”
Donations can be made at gofundme.com/threelittlangels.
bdeachman@postmedia.com
Thomas Harris comforts four-year-old Harlow, the youngest of his three children, at a candlelight vigil held Sunday.
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The 29-year-old mother of three was remembered by family, friends and colleagues as a kind-hearted, loving person, especially when it came to her children.
“Everything that my sister did was for her children,” said Samantha Bordeleau. “She had the world ahead of her and it is very sad that we lost her. But I am thankful for every single person who has helped in any way. I can’t say enough to the people who have such caring hearts.”
“She gave me the best thing anybody could give me,” said Harris’s husband, Tommy. “She gave me three wonderful kids and a loving family, and anybody who met her knew right away she was an inspirational person.
“She would light up your life,” he said. “She would make you laugh, she would make you cry.”
A personal support worker with Care Partners, Harris had just dropped her children off at a daycare provider Wednesday morning, and was on her way to visit a client in Carleton Place when the collision occurred at the intersection of highways 7 and 15.
The mother of two girls — Dakota, 8, and Harlow, 4 — and a son, Leland, 6, Harris was the family’s sole provider. Tommy, from whom she had recently separated, had returned to school to also become a support worker.
Harris’s family hoped that Sunday’s vigil, held on the front walk of Smiths Falls Town Hall, would raise awareness of Ontario’s traffic laws after the driver of the tractor-trailer was charged with failing to stop at a red light. If convicted, he faces a $260 fine and three demerit points.
About 75 people, including four-year-old daughter Harlow Harris, front, attended a candelight vigil Sunday for 29-year-old Elizabeth Harris.
“We want to make people aware that we need to obey the rules of the road, to slow down when it’s wintertime, so nothing like this happens again,” said Harris’s aunt, Sylvie Brinkworth, who organized the event.
Sunday’s ceremony was not without some misfortune of its own, however. Apart from the wind that made the candle-lighting almost impossible, a car breakdown prevented Harris’s father, David Earl Lucas, and younger sister, Jennifer Lucas, from attending.
One attendee, Cathy Kinch, is a teacher at Perth’s St. James School, which the Harris children attend. She arrived Sunday with a handful of teachers from the school.
“We first met Elizabeth when she came to St. James to register Dakota, and we noticed that she had their names tattooed, and we knew of the great love that she had for them, and she was a great supporter of all of us who taught her children throughout the years.
“I taught Dakota for two years and I have Leland now. It’s a close-knit family school, and we’re all feeling the loss right now.”
A crowdfunding campaign, meanwhile, started to help the family with funeral and other expenses, was exceeding expectations. Its initial goal of $5,000 was surpassed in less than a day. As of Sunday afternoon, more than 600 people had donated in excess of $33,000. Erica Brown-Morrison, a friend of Harris’s who started the campaign, has increased the goal to $50,000.
“I started it Wednesday night when I got home from bowling,” she said. “It’s overwhelming how the community has pulled together for the kids and the family.”
She said the news of their mother’s death is only beginning to register with the children.
“It’s horrible. I saw them (Saturday) night. They’re trying as best as they can, but they’re not doing too well. (Dakota) kind of knows; she kept saying last night, ‘When mommy was here,’ and ‘When mommy was alive,’ but it hasn’t sunk in with the other two.”
Donations can be made at gofundme.com/threelittlangels.
bdeachman@postmedia.com
Thomas Harris comforts four-year-old Harlow, the youngest of his three children, at a candlelight vigil held Sunday.
查看原文...
