Saltair residents Allan and Katheryn Boudreau have been identified as the two passengers killed when a plane crashed on Gabriola Island last week.
Both were 53. Pilot Alex Bahlsen, 62, of Mill Bay was also killed in the crash.
Ellen Lavender, parish council chairwoman, said the deaths of the longtime parishioners at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Chemainus leave a “big hole” in the parish. “There were lots of tears in mass on Sunday,” said Lavender, who learned of the couple’s deaths through an email from the parish priest. “They are a huge loss.
“It’s devastating.”
The Boudreaus’ children attended St. Joseph’s Catholic Elementary School in Chemainus, and Katheryn Boudreau was “very much an integral part” of the parish, reading at mass and volunteering in everything from fundraising to liaising with the diocese on development and peace.
“She was very faith-filled, and giving,” said Lavender. “She was ready to do anything.”
Allan Boudreau also volunteered with the church, working on the finance committee and as an usher, said Lavender.
The Boudreaus owned and eventually sold Island Hothouse, a vegetable-growing business located on two acres in Saltair. That set them up for retirement, said long-time friend Gwen Jahelka.
She said they got into the business with no experience in the field.
“Katheryn would work the markets,” she said. “They sold to a lot of the grocery stores.”
Jahelka said she met the Boudreaus when she taught their daughters at St. Joseph.
“Over the years, of course, being part of a small school community as well as a church community, we became good friends and did things as couples and families.”
She said that she and Katheryn Boudreau enjoyed taking walks together.
“We had two big black labs that we liked to walk,” Jahelka said. “The guys would go golfing or do their projects.”
She said Katheryn Boudreau was very artistic and had a “creative energy” she shared with others.
They were wonderful people, she said. “They would just do whatever they could to help you out,” Jahelka said. “We’re all in shock.”
The Boudreaus’ adult children could not immediately be reached for comment.
The plane was flying from Bishop, California, to Nanaimo when it crashed.
Witnesses have said the plane appeared to be in trouble and entered a spiral, crashing into the ground on Gabriola Island.
The Transportation Safety Board has said the pilot reported an equipment problem as he tried to land.
Bahlsen, who was born in Germany and came to Canada to study at the University of Calgary, was an heir to the Bahlsen biscuit empire in Germany.
— With a file from The Canadian Press
