Gentle and generous: Mourners remember B.C. mother and son killed in police standoff
'He was a really kind, gentle man,' says former co-worker of Jovan Williams
Two simple wooden coffins arrived at the funeral in a red pick up truck flying an American flag.
A prominent union leader and local First Nations men carried the coffins inside a hillside church in Burns Lake, B.C, where several hundred mourners gathered Tuesday to say goodbye to Shirley and Jovan Williams.
They remembered the mother and son who were killed April 21 in an RCMP standoff as gentle, generous people.
Jovan was a former U.S. Marine with a shy smile who loved to draw cartoons. Shirley, a southern belle from Memphis, Tennessee, nicknamed "Boots." embraced northern life after marrying a man from the Cheslatta Carrier First Nation.
At the funeral, Harvey Williams described his former partner as his best friend.
"When I heard that they both died, that they were killed by police officers, everything went black," Williams told mourners at Immaculata Catholic Church.
"Like I was knocked out by a professional boxer. I didn't want to live anymore."
A 'nice family'
Shirley Williams, 77, and her son, 39, were shot and killed during an RCMP standoff at their Granisle, B.C. home. Police say they were responding to a dispute between neighbours.
B.C.'s police watchdog, the Independent Investigation Office, is investigating, but few details have been released.
"They're a really nice family," said Cheslatta elder Minnie Peters outside the church. "It's really so sad. I just don't believe this happened."
Peters' daughter, Kris Peters, worked with Jovan Williams for six years at the Lake Babine band office, where he was a custodian and security guard.
"He was a really kind, gentle man," she said. "I just don't understand why it happened to such a nice guy."
It was a common sentiment, repeated in the eulogies and in dozens of remembrances printed in the funeral program.
Jovan was remembered as handsome, quiet, polite, hardworking, and easy going. Some recalled his dimples, shy smile and his friendly half-wave.
Others remembered his love for drawing cartoons.
He was also generous. A man so devoted to his mother, he once sold his car to pay for her dental work. He left his custodian job at the Lake Babine band office in January to care for his mother full time.
Shirley was remembered as a generous woman, who loved her garden and her pets and organized wonderful Easter egg hunts.
'Respected' in community
She was a self taught lumber grader at the northern mill where she also became a shop steward and union activist.
Cheslatta Chief Corinna Leween says it's a far cry from how the pair are being described in some media reports.
"I don't know them to have a mental illness," said Leween. "These two were respected individuals within our community, and the packed church here symbolizes that.
"They were hard working. They loved to help people. So this clears up a lot of these rumours .... coming out of the neighbours and people in Granisle that maybe didn't know them that well."
As mother and son were laid to rest, many were demanding to know what happened."
"I just want answers, why this happened," said Kris Peters.