'There are no words, just tears:' Amherstburg mourns loss of Lacie and Kyle Brundritt
Daniel Taekema | CBC News | Posted: August 2, 2017 8:21 PM | Last Updated: August 2, 2017
Coworkers loved Lacie Brundritt's off-key rendition of 'Happy Birthday'
Lacie Brundritt's smiling face is something most people in Amherstburg will find familiar, even if they don't know her by name.
- OPP identify mother and son from Amherstburg killed in six-vehicle crash near Chatham
- 'It hurts us all': Essex MPP calls for answers after Highway 401 crash claims mother and son
As a postal worker the 42-year-old woman carried mail to many homes. Now, the death of Lacie and her 14-year-old son Kyle, who died when a transport truck slammed into several vehicles on Highway 401, has rippled through the small southwestern Ontario community.
The tragedy has also reached Queen's Park where people are demanding answers about the rising number of crashes along the busy highway.
"She had an amazing sense of care and giving. I will miss her so deeply," said Brundritt's friend Sue Markham. "It's so wrong and it didn't need to happen. One person is horrible, but two people in one family is beyond tragic."
The Brundritts were travelling west down the highway, heading home from a family vacation in their pickup, when they got stuck in slow traffic because of a crash in the eastbound lanes. While they were stopped a tractor-trailer collided with their truck and several other vehicles near Dillon Road.
It seems like something that's so senseless, - Daniel Sutton, president CUPW Local 500
Lacie and Kyle were pronounced dead at the scene — her husband Mike was air lifted to hospital with serious injuries and her 12-year-old son Evan was also injured.
"I got the phone call Sunday night and I haven't been able to stop crying," said Jennifer Grant, who has known the family for decades. "There are no words, just tears and sobbing."
Grant said her children were so close with Lacie they referred to her as their "aunt." She was a "bright light" and friends and family are still dealing with the devastating loss, Grant explained.
Lacie known for off-key serenades
Daniel Sutton — president of CUPW Local 500 — who worked alongside Lacie for years, described her as a "joy" to be with, especially when she started singing.
"She had a fantastic sense of humour, a quick wit," he said. "She had her own rendition of 'Happy Birthday' … and it just made it that much more special when Lacie would belt out her own off-key version."
The family was passionate about music, according to Markham, but their children were their biggest love.
The couple's relationship left her "in awe," she said, adding Kyle was a "really, really thoughtful young man" who was just starting to come into his own as an adult.
OPP urge drivers to be cautious on 401
Provincial police issued a special warning Wednesday morning, calling on motorists to slow down and drive cautiously around construction zones following an "increase in collisions."
"Drivers should remain vigilant at all times, particularly in construction zones where inattention behind the wheel can lead to tragic consequences," wrote Const. Jay Denorer.
Essex MPP Taras Natyshak, who is also asking for answers following the deadly crash, said he contacted the Ministry of Transportation and OPP for more information about how the collision could have happened.
Crash raises questions about highway safety
Those warnings come too late for Markham, who said the number of crashes on the stretch of the highway near Chatham call for a "serious inquiry."
"There are way too many accidents on this stretch of the 401 and there have to be some connecting reasons," she explained.
Sutton said he's heard from many people in the community concerned about the road deaths.
"It seems like something that's so senseless," he said. "There's obviously been a wide range of emotions … and for friends and family and colleagues that knew Lacie and Kyle and certainly one of those is anger."
Funeral to be held Saturday
Visitations will be held Friday from 3-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m at the Families First Funeral Home on Sandwich Street S. in Amherstburg.
Family and friends are invited to meet at St. John the Baptist Parish Church on Brock Street at 9:45 a.m. for a funeral mass beginning at 10:30 a.m.