Organizers of a Sunday afternoon beachside memorial for 22-year-old White Rock resident Colin Dow – who died suddenly on Valentine’s Day – were forced to make it a double ceremony after Dow’s friend, 26-year-old Chris Cederfeldt, died two days later in an unrelated car crash.
About a dozen friends of both men gathered on White Rock’s East Beach near “Brocks Rock”, a carved stone memorial for another young man who died too soon, White Rock resident Brock Shannon who was killed in a freak car accident in 2007.
They cast flowers in the water and wrote messages to their friends on helium balloons, then released them into the air.
The event was organized by Siara Bradshaw, a friend of Dow.
“He was a beautiful person, the most lovable person ever, and this is just our way of saying that we love him,” Bradshaw said. Participants said the two men were friends with each other, and both were area residents.
“I’m here for all of them,” said Billie Waite. “They’re in a better place now.”
She wrote a message on a star-shaped balloon that said both men would “live forever in our hearts and will be forever missed.”
Cederfeldt, a former Kamloops resident, was killed in a crash on the Coquihalla highway on Thursday (Feb. 16).
Police said Cederfeldt was driving a small car that crossed the centre line and collided with a semi truck near the Inks Lake exit just south of Kamloops.
Slippery road conditions were believed to be a contributing factor. RCMP and the coroner’s service are investigating.
Dow, who used to attend Elgin Park Secondary school in South Surrey, passed away unexpectedly in Vancouver on Tuesday (Feb. 14).
Details were not disclosed.
