‘Tara loved life’: hundreds honour Brandon native

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This article was published 14/10/2017 (2972 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — More than 500 people attended services Friday honouring Tara Roe, whose life was cut short by a gunman who fired on a crowd attending an outdoor concert this month in Las Vegas.

Although the family requested media not attend the service, Roe’s parents, Mark and Brenda Smith of Brandon, later offered a prepared statement on what transpired during the two-hour celebration.

“We shared, with laughter and tears, her happy times, her accomplishments, our memories of her and why she was loved so much, by so many,” Mark Smith said. Roe, 34, was a daughter, sister, aunt, wife “and a wonderful mother to her greatest treasures: Louis and Lennon.”

While Smith paused to collect himself a few times while reading the statement, he made it to the end, with his wife at his side and a large photo of their daughter looking over them.

A Brandon native, Roe had settled with her husband, Zach, and two young children in Okotoks, Alta.

In addition to occasional work as a model, Roe also worked as an education assistant, and Smith said she “took pride in the achievements of her autistic students and was keen on furthering her education in child development.”

“Tara loved life,” Smith said. “She wanted to experience new adventures, taking up wave surfing and kayaking just this summer. She loved to do things with her family, enjoyed camping, Clear Lake time, biking and quiet game nights. She wanted her boys to be active too, and did so much to support them with their hockey and lacrosse.”

Smith said although friends and family will find a way to live their lives with her, she would never be forgotten.

“We are very grateful for all the outpouring of love and support during this incredibly difficult time,” he said. “It is very much appreciated and we are very thankful.”

Roe was one of four Canadians killed in the Oct. 1 mass shooting at a country music show on the Las Vegas strip, which left 58 people dead and more than 500 injured.

Friday’s services were described as a highly emotional affair, during which Roe’s sister, Tami Spiropoulos, offered a tribute relayed to media afterward.

Roe had relocated to Alberta after spending her formative years in Brandon, but that did not lessen their connection, she said.

“We were always close, but distance made us appreciate each other even more,” Spiropoulos said in a statement. “Today, as we say goodbye to Tara, that distance is even further.

“And with all of my memories, and all of my heart, I will keep her closer to me than ever before, because distance means so little, when someone means so much to you, like Tara does to me, and to all who knew her.”

Attendees were invited to sign a petition to support gun control; beside it was a sign reading: “One heart is worth more than all the guns on Earth.”

By the end of the celebration, more than 500 signatures were counted.

A GoFundMe fundraiser called “Expenses for Zach and the kids” had raised more than $163,000 by press time Friday, which Brenda Smith said would help Zach Roe afford to stay home with his two young children.

In Okotoks, where Roe’s family had became big supporters of the local sports community, the junior A hockey club honoured her Friday night with a Tara Roe Memorial Game.

During the days that followed the Oct. 1 mass shooting, the Okotoks Minor Hockey Association also set up a fund that will go toward purchasing groceries for the Roe family.

— Brandon Sun