Emily Tuck, Jolene Oliver and Aaron Tuck (Photo: GoFundMe page)

By Troy Gillard

"they always stayed together"

Red Deer woman loses three family members in Nova Scotia massacre

Apr 20, 2020 | 3:14 PM

A Red Deer woman is mourning the sudden loss of three family members in this weekend’s devastating shooting massacre in Nova Scotia.

Tammy Oliver-McCurdie lost her sister Jolene Oliver, brother-in-law Aaron “Friar” Tuck and niece Emily Tuck in the tragedy.

Jolene, who was turning 40 this year, Aaron Tuck, 45, and Emily, 17, had moved to Portapique, Nova Scotia after Tuck’s father died a few years ago.

Oliver-McCurdie learned Sunday evening that her family members, who were neighbours of the killer, had been found dead in their home. She said it’s a small comfort to know that the close trio died together.

“No matter how much they went through in life, they always stayed together, and there were times that they had nothing,” Oliver-McCurdie told The Canadian Press.

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The sisters grew up in Calgary and remained close into adulthood. Oliver-McCurdie said Oliver was a people person who loved working as a waitress, which she did for most of her life.

“She was such a great listener.”

Emily was an intelligent girl who had plans to continue her education, but couldn’t decide whether to pursue art or welding, her aunt said.

“That kid was so bright. She knew how to weld. She knew how to fix cars. She played the violin.”

On March 26, the family posted a video of Emily performing a fiddle solo to the Ultimate Online Nova Scotia Kitchen Party Facebook page.

On April 6, Oliver and Tuck posted another Facebook video in which they celebrated the opportunity to spend quality time with family and encouraging others to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

“Cheers! Have a good time with your family. This is what it’s all about. We’ll never get this chance again,” Aaron said in the video.

Oliver-McCurdie said the family is now working from Alberta on arranging funerals in Nova Scotia. A GoFundMe page to help with this has received tremendous response with more than $33,000 raised (as of 3 p.m. Monday).

“They were struggling and not set up financially and trying not to burden my parents,” Oliver-McCurdle wrote on the page. “(They) Will be missed by many.”

RCMP are confirming that at least 19 people, including an RCMP officer, were killed on the weekend in what has become one of the worst mass killings in Canadian history.

(With file from The Canadian Press)