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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Big funeral planned for 'sweetheart' killed in crash
SANFORD -- One of the biggest funerals ever held in this community southwest of Winnipeg is expected next week for a woman killed in a head-on collision.
As many as 500 people are expected to pay respects to Ellory Kirkwood, 20, killed after the vehicle in which she was a passenger crashed into an oncoming pickup truck early Wednesday morning.
RCMP believe the Chrysler Sebring carrying Kirkwood crossed the centre median into a Nissan truck.
Another passenger in the Sebring, a 21-year-old woman whose name was not released, was also killed. The driver is in critical condition.
The driver and lone occupant of the pickup truck, Paul Kler, 64, also died.
RCMP have not released names of the victims but people in the community identified the two victims from the area.
Both Kler and Kirkwood are from Sanford, about 15 kilometres south of Oak Bluff. The male driver of the Sebring and the other female passenger are believed to be from Winnipeg.
The vehicle carrying Kirkwood was headed south on Highway 3 towards Sanford at about 3 a.m., ostensibly to drop Kirkwood off at home, where she lived with her parents.
The crash occurred on a curve about a kilometre north of Sanford where several collisions have happened in the past.
"(The curve) kind of sneaks up on you a little bit," said Tom Hancock, an Oak Bluff resident. "I've attended a few (vehicle accidents) there," said the former ambulance driver for eight years in the region.
Kirkwood was kept alive on life-support until her organs could be harvested for transplant.
Kirkwood graduated from Sanford Collegiate about a year ago.
"She was just a sweetheart," Hancock said.
The funeral will be held Wednesday in Oak Bluff at the Oak Bluff Recreation Centre.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 7, 2012 A11
History
Updated on Saturday, January 7, 2012 at 10:36 AM CST: Corrects names to Kirkwood and Kler
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