VIGIL HELD FOR TEEN
Hannah Leflar remembered by family, friends, classmates
On Monday night, friends, family and classmates gathered at Thom Collegiate to remember a girl whose favourite colour was purple.
In the twilight, tearful embraces and candles were passed around the crowd, many of whom wore white T-shirts emblazoned with a photo of 16-year-old Regina murder victim Hannah Leflar.
By the time Leflar’s family arrived, the gathering was around 200-strong, quietly waiting on the steps of the school.
As frosted breath mingled with the flicker of candlelight, the family gathered into a small huddle, Leflar’s mother holding flowers and a purple candle close to her chest.
Shandy Maertens spoke on the family’s behalf; she thanked everyone for coming to remember the 16-yearold and offered up a short prayer.
Then, led by Leflar’s family, the crowd filed two abreast past the school and down the alleyway, following the route Leflar took each day on her way to and from school.
Footsteps crunching through snow, the long line of people wound past the Thom Collegiate playing field, along a pathway next to the park, and turned right onto McMurchy Avenue.
Near police vehicle lights flashing red and blue to block scant traffic, people stopped at a house on the corner of Garnet Street much like those around it — a suburban, single-level bungalow with a porch light illuminating the sidewalk.
With the crowd spilled into the street, purple, star-shaped balloons were released on masse; the bare, winter branches of trees grabbed at them before the breeze sailed them into the sky.
“We would like to thank all of the community, all of the children. We cannot believe the outpouring of support,” Maertens said, before asking for a moment of silence to remember Leflar’s short life.
It was then that Leflar’s mother spoke.
Her voice cracking, she thanked the crowd.
“Thank you, thank you for coming for my daughter,” she said. “I know how she touched all of you.”
Some people wiped away tears, cupping their candles against the breeze; mothers held their children close.
One by one, people stepped forward to place their candles in the snow alongside the makeshift memorial of framed photos, flowers and small, stuffed animals.
They remembered Leflar as a bright and energetic girl who knew how to make people laugh and smile.
For Brianna Pinay and her friend Kayla Giesbrecht, both friends of Leflar, it was important to come along “and try to do what she would want.”
“It’s what we thought was right, it’s what we thought we had to do,” Pinay said.
“It’s helping the family. We wanted to do what was best for the family. When we’re all together, we try ... to laugh, we try to think about all the good memories. There are so many.”
Devi Macdonald and Viktorya Ritter-Magot, both in Grade 9 at Thom, didn’t know Leflar, but felt it was important to show their support and pay their respects.
“The school has been really down,” Macdonald said. “Everyone’s trying to do the best they can to feel better about it.”
“Our school’s like a family,” Ritter-Magot added. “We’re all really close.”
For Macdonald’s mother Amanda, Leflar’s death and the vigil hit home.
“If it was my 16-year-old, I don’t know what I would do,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine the grief the parents are feeling.”
Jana Pinay is Brianna Pinay’s mom, and came to support her daughter.
“We’re here for my 16-yearold — (Leflar) was one of her best friends,” she said. “I could never imagine my life without my daughter, or some other mother without her daughter. We came for justice ... and peace.”
Not long after the candlelight vigil wrapped up, Leflar’s mother left a simple message on the event’s Facebook page.
“Thank you all for coming to honour my daughter. It was as beautiful as she was.”