Ontario teacher and 4 teens killed in crash to be remembered at funerals this weekend

CBC News

· Posted: May 29, 2025 3:08 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

Funeral services volition beryllium held this play successful respective midwestern Ontario communities for the 5 victims of a multi-vehicle collision that sent daze waves of grief crossed the region.

Four teenage girls from Walkerton District Community School were travelling location with their teacher past Friday day aft a softball tourney eastbound of London, Ont., when they were progressive successful a clang with a transport truck.

Rowan McLeod, Kaydance Ford, Danica Baker, Olivia Rourke and Mat Eckert were killed. Their deaths were acknowledged crossed Canada, including by Prime Minister Mark Carney, who wrote that it was an "unimaginable nonaccomplishment that no family, nary classmate, nary schoolhouse should ever person to endure."

Ontario Provincial Police said Thursday that they are continuing to analyse what happened connected the agrarian roadworthy where a two-way halt intersects with a busier highway.

Memorial announcements posted this week offered a model into the lives of the young women who are being remembered for their emotion of sport, their galore "best friends," and the attraction they felt for their siblings and cousins.  

"Our satellite was everlastingly changed connected Friday, May 23, 2025, erstwhile our beloved Kaydance Lynne Ford passed distant abruptly astatine conscionable 16 years old," wrote the Ford family, who said their girl excelled successful athletics and successful store classes astatine school.

Rowen's favourite colour was pink, and her family asked people to deterioration it on Sunday astatine the Chesley arena for a memorial. That tiny town, northbound of Walkerton successful Bruce County, volition beryllium the tract of 2 funerals, with a gathering Saturday astatine the Chesley shot diamond to retrieve Kaydance.

Earlier connected Saturday, a associated work for Olivia and Danica volition beryllium held astatine the Walkerton Community Centre. 

Olivia's household remembers her arsenic a airy successful their lives, "full of kindness, laughter, dance, opus and love," they wrote successful a statement. "Her lack leaves a void that volition ne'er beryllium filled and ever remembered."

Hundreds of radical lit candles and marked a infinitesimal of soundlessness astatine a vigil extracurricular of the schoolhouse successful the days pursuing the crash, with galore radical expressing the value of being unneurotic to grieve.  

"It's an incredibly deep, heavy scar this has inflicted connected our community. It's going to instrumentality a agelong clip to heal," said Chris Peabody, the politician of Brockton, which includes Walkerton.

Teacher remembered

While students astatine the schoolhouse wherever the teens attended are receiving grief counselling, staff excessively mourned a workfellow they said brought laughter to the unit country and "whose beingness made a difference."

Eckert, 33, was not lone a teacher and a coach, his household said, but idiosyncratic whose dedication to work was evident successful everything helium did.   

"His mathematics lessons were much than conscionable numbers — they were moments of connection. He took the clip to genuinely spot his students and athletes, often utilizing his luncheon breaks to physique relationships, connection encouragement, and punctual others of their worth," his household wrote. 

Known to his friends arsenic "Ecky," some hung orangish NorthStar lacrosse squad shirts, wherever helium was a coach, connected their beforehand porch.

His ceremonial volition beryllium held connected Sunday astatine an Owen Sound precocious school, wherever his household suggested we would person wanted people to deterioration "sweatpants tucked into socks and cozy footwear."  

To people the teenagers' involvement successful sports, 3 families asked that donations beryllium made to assorted section teams, including aerial gymnastics, broomball, insignificant hockey and baseball. The Ford household had besides acceptable up a bursary astatine the Walkerton schoolhouse successful Danica's name.