Gabriola Island is reeling from the loss of two men known for their service to the community.
Chris Straw and Marc Dor茅 have been identified as the men who died Tuesday when the boom of a concrete pump truck broke while pouring the foundation for a home.
Both men died at the scene despite the efforts of the Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department and B.C. Ambulance Service to save the mensa国际传媒檚 lives.
Carol Fergusson, Gabriola Arts Council executive director, said she knew Dor茅 as a gentle man, well-respected in the community and as a builder of fine homes on the island.
sa国际传媒淗e and his wife Huguette were very well-respected builders. They made beautiful, beautiful homes,sa国际传媒� Fergusson said.
Fergusson said Dor茅 had a quick wit and a great laugh.
Chris Straw, Fergusson said, was heavily involved with the arts council and took part in the renovation and construction of the arts councilsa国际传媒檚 buildings.
sa国际传媒淗is pickup truck was used a lot to do things for the arts council sa国际传媒� hesa国际传媒檚 also the best emcee the islandsa国际传媒檚 ever seen. He was just great with a crowd sa国际传媒� a very dry sense of humour and a quick wit,sa国际传媒� Fergusson said. sa国际传媒淗e was a teaser. He liked to tease everyone. I was looking forward to getting to know him better to find out what the teasing really meant.sa国际传媒�
Straw, she said, was a dedicated husband and a wonderful father who was sa国际传媒渆specially smittensa国际传媒� with his grandson Luca, whom Straw and his wife Margy Gilmour were home-schooling during the pandemic while the boysa国际传媒檚 parents worked.
Both men and their families are well-known in the community of about 4,500 through their volunteer work.
sa国际传媒淭hey knew so many people because they had been here for quite some time and they just were involved in so many different aspects of the community,sa国际传媒� Fergusson said. sa国际传媒淐hris didnsa国际传媒檛 just volunteer for the Gabriola Arts Council, he volunteered all over the place and would be the first one to help anyone and the same with Marc, so the ripple effect throughout the community has been absolutely astounding.sa国际传媒�
Straw and Dor茅 were retired CBC employees.
Sheila Malcolmson, Nanaimo MLA and Gabriola Island resident, worked with Straw on the freighter anchorages issue.
sa国际传媒淗esa国际传媒檚 really part of my island family, particularly on the anchorages issue, and we did a lot of work together when I was MP,sa国际传媒� Malcolmson said. sa国际传媒淲e got him out to Ottawa to testify to the transportation committee. We did a lot of stuff together for a lot of years and it continued and I thought it would carry on a whole lot longer. Itsa国际传媒檚 a real shock.sa国际传媒�
Malcolmson said Dor茅 and his wife loved their home-building work, which was much different from their careers prior to retiring to the island.
sa国际传媒淭hey were going to build the dream home for Chris Straw and Margy Gilmour,sa国际传媒� she said.
Straw was a full-time artist, but Malcolmson knew him as a man who crafted a constructive voice from the anger and frustration felt by Gulf Islands residents over the freighter anchorage issue.
sa国际传媒淐hris Straw was extremely skillful at being able to bring all those voices together, channel them into a government process that was solution-oriented, was something that moved the issue forward and knit together people in communities that had never worked together before sa国际传媒� he brought forward a lot of diplomacy and strategic thinking that really made a difference,sa国际传媒� Malcolmson said.
She said Straw emceed both happy and sad occasions on Gabriola Island.
sa国际传媒淥ften when theresa国际传媒檇 be a loss in the community, Chris would be the one who be the master of ceremonies or be the one who gave the eulogy sa国际传媒� he was just the kind of guy who stepped up in times of need,sa国际传媒� Malcolmson said. sa国际传媒淲e are going to have to do that without him this time.sa国际传媒�
Faron Parlee, manager for Bedrock Redi-Mix, the company delivering and pouring the concrete on the site Tuesday, expressed the companysa国际传媒檚 sentiments in an e-mailed statement Thursday.
sa国际传媒淲e are in shock and are extremely concerned about the impact to these individualssa国际传媒� families and friends,sa国际传媒� the statement noted. sa国际传媒淏edrock Redi-Mix is fully co-operating with the site management and all provincial safety authorities.sa国际传媒�
An investigation into the incident by WorkSafe B.C. and the B.C. Coroners Service is continuing.
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