Christmas Day homicide victim was selfless 'superhero'

The last time Alexander Walters saw his fiancée Jolene Arreak — on Christmas Day — she hung a little wreath on his door and they parted with a hug and kiss. 

The couple usually said "see you later" instead of "bye." 

That day, though, they said the latter.

"Maybe our spirits knew what was happening and we didn't know," Walters said of what became the "scariest" day of his life. 

Arreak, 46, died later on Dec. 25. Ottawa police have charged a man with second-degree murder. 

As Arreak's relatives gather in her home community in Nunavut this week, and a memorial takes place on Friday afternoon at an Ottawa church, people who knew Arreak are remembering her as a selfless volunteer who valued nature, the preservation of Inuit heritage, and acts of kindness for strangers and friends alike. 

"Ottawa [will be] a darker place because she's gone," said her mother, Olayu Micah Arreak. 

"She didn't deserve to die this way."

'Out there for the people'

Arreak was born in Iqaluit and grew up in Pond Inlet, an Inuit community on Baffin Island that's home to about 1,800 people.

She moved from Nunavut to Ottawa after studying to become a film producer, according to her mother, and crafted a number of short documentaries about life in Canada's North.

When CBC interviewed her in the mid-2000s, she was working with digitized footage of elders. 

Those interviews "were very near and dear to her heart," said Sharon Lortie, an Ottawa friend. Arreak helped take care of Lortie, 71, through her cancer.

Arreak's attachment to elders was just one example of her "loving ways," according to Walters.

The pair were reintroduced to each other in recent years, got engaged, and were planning to start a family together, he said.

They first met 20 years ago on Rideau Street, where Arreak was handing out hamburgers to homeless people "and being high-spirited and out there for the people," Walters said. 

Three people CBC spoke with on Rideau Street Wednesday said they recalled seeing Arreak in the area. 

'She gave the best hugs'

Arreak continued helping those in need. She arranged search parties for Nunavut residents who went missing after travelling to Ottawa for medical care.

She did this mostly on her own time, Walters said. 

"I don't even know how to explain it in words, but like, [a] superhero, you know?"

Arreak gave out food, cigarettes and emotional support to people on the street — her hugs as strong as a "polar bear's grip," according to remarks Walters prepared for Arreak's funeral. 

Lizzy Qatsiya, Arreak's former stepdaughter, seconded that.

"She gave the best hugs," Qatsiya said. "She was always upbeat and happy."

Qatsiya last spoke to Arreak a week before her unexpected death. The two had made plans to meet up once Qatsiya got a place to stay.

"She's gonna be very much missed," she said. 

Sister killed 15 years ago

The man charged in Arreak's death remains in custody and is next due in court on Jan. 24.

Walters wasn't at the incident on Christmas night and says he doesn't want to know the details. 

He's still coming to grips with the reality of Arreak being gone — but is glad he had that final moment with her.

"Taking a moment to just hug someone and tell them, I love you, will make that much of a difference," he said. 

In June 2011, Arreak's sister, Sula Enuaraq, and Enuaraq's two daughters were killed in a widely suspected case of murder-suicide. Enuaraq's husband was found dead at the Iqaluit cemetery with a gun beside him.

"She had her late sister in her heart every day," Walters said of Arreak. 

"But the thing about Jolene is she [had] this ability to always bring light into a situation ... She [found] a way to make it understandably realistic and be able to cope."

Walters spoke to CBC on Wednesday from the Rideau River trail, where Arreak liked to walk, a day before he planned to fly to Pond Inlet to meet up with Arreak's family. 

"She was all about nature, natural healing and basically self-preservation through peace and harmony with nature," he said.

Olayu Micah Arreak, Arreak's mother, said her daughter's death is deeply felt. 

"The squirrels and the birds are sad too," she said from Pond Inlet. "And the homeless … are mourning her too."

The Friday memorial in Arreak's honour is being held at St. Margaret's Church in Vanier at 1 p.m. A reception will follow at 2 p.m.