Emily Tuck, Aaron Tuck and Jolene Oliver (Photo supplied)

By Troy Gillard and Sheldon Spackman

“Bless their hearts so much for helping us out"

Support “astronomical” says Red Deer woman who lost three in Nova Scotia shootings

Apr 21, 2020 | 2:13 PM

A Red Deer woman says she is incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support she and her family have received since the tragic loss of her sister, brother-in-law and niece in last weekend’s mass shooting tragedy in Nova Scotia.

Jolene Oliver, 39, Aaron Tuck, 45, and Emily Tuck, 17, were found dead in their Portapique, Nova Scotia home on Sunday. They were among the victims killed by a 51-year-old gunman, who later died after being intercepted by police.

“I truly appreciate everything everyone is doing so we can deal with this tragedy, and not just our people. We’re trying to emotionally (deal with the fact) there are a lot of people dead,” says Tammy Oliver-McCurdie, Jolene’s sister, of Red Deer.

Oliver-McCurdie started a GoFundMe page to help raise funds for things such as funeral arrangements, flights for family members to and from Nova Scotia, and item storage. More than $51,000 has come in from people across Canada and the world.

“The support is astronomical, and I super love everybody who is supporting us through not only GoFundMe, but through social media messaging and however else they can share their love,” Oliver-McCurdie says warmly.

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Oliver-McCurdie says difficult times are ahead as the family tries to deal with everything from long-distance, and during a pandemic.

“We have no idea how we’re going to facilitate all of this between two provinces, especially during COVID-19 because if we go there we have to quarantine for 14 days, each of us.

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“We’re not sure what we want to do. We want to leave half (their) remains there and bring half back here,” she explains. “My family lives and grew up in Alberta. Aaron came here in his 20s, met my sister and they lived here for a good 15 years then moved to Nova Scotia. We want to honour both communities and families. But it’s just really tough to maneuver around this whole COVID thing.”

Aaron’s extended family lives in the Sydney, Nova Scotia area while the Oilver family is largely in Alberta. Tammy is the middle of three sisters. Jolene was youngest.

“My parents are devastated. (Aaron’s) parents aren’t alive so fortunately they don’t have to grieve the death of their son. But my parents have to grieve the death of their daughter, granddaughter and son-in-law,” she laments.

Oliver-McCurdie says one of their main concerns right now is the status of the family’s Portapique area home, one of 16 crime scenes currently being held by RCMP as part of their investigation.

“We want to make sure that stays secure,” she notes. “We want to be able to go through it and take our possessions and resonate with the spirits in the house. We need some closure once they release the property.”

Oliver-McCurdie says whether it be through donations or simply words of encouragement, anything people do to support the families of the shooting victims goes a long way.

“Bless their hearts so much for helping us out. So many people that have donated sent me messages, some we’ve connected with because we knew them and I love hearing stories about my family.

“If you can give a message and that’s all you have, that helps.”

Oliver-McCurdie says money left over from the donations they receive will be used to create a young women/youth trades scholarship in Emily’s name.