LARSEN, Elmer
The funeral service for Elmer Larsen, of Cape Traverse, was held Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, from the Dawson Funeral Home, Crapaud, where the service was conducted by Rev. Kent Compton. Organist was Cindy Harman. Bulletins were passed out by grandsons, Johnathan Lauwerijssen and Jake Larsen. Words of remembrance were shared by family friend, Helena Hamill and family remembrances were shared by his daughter, Janet McQuaid. Scripture passages were read by grandsons, Robert and Joseph Larsen. A poem, Close The Gate, was read by grandsons Alex, Allan, and Marius Larsen and Everett McQuaid. Special music was provided by granddaughters, Kirsten and Anneka Kouwenberg. Connie McCardle sang In The Bulb There is a Flower. Processional hymn was In The Sweet By and By. Congregational hymn was The Lord’s My Shepherd and recessional hymn was Here I Am Lord. Honorary pallbearers were all in attendance. Pallbearers were sons Donald, David, James, Peter and Lorne Larsen and grandson, Taylor Larsen. Flowerbearers were grandchildren, Emma, Jessica, Hannah and Justin Larsen, Kristen and Harry Kouwenberg, Patrick Lauwerijssen, Matthew McQuaid and Sarah and Laura Quigley. Also in attendance were representatives of TriCounty Dairy, Good Equipment, Public School Board branch office, and Elm Street Elementary School. A convoy of tractors driven by his grandsons led the funeral procession to the cemetery where they then formed an honour guard for their grandfather. Interment took place in Cape Traverse Church of Scotland Cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to Dawson Funeral Home, Crapaud. People examine the wreckage of a New Jersey Transit commuter train that crashed into the train station during the morning rush hour in Hoboken, N.J., Thursday. The crash killed one person and injured dozens.
A speeding rush-hour commuter train crashed through a barrier at the busy Hoboken station and lurched across the waiting area Thursday morning, killing one person and injuring more than 100 others in a tangle of broken concrete, twisted metal and dangling cables, authorities said.
People pulled concrete off bleeding victims and passengers kicked out windows and crawled out amid crying and screaming after the arriving New Jersey Transit train ran off the end of its track. It apparently knocked out pillars as it ground to a halt in a covered waiting area, collapsing a section of the roof onto the first car.
Ross Bauer, an IT specialist who was heading to his Manhattan job from his home in Hackensack, was sitting in the third or fourth car when the train was pulling into the historic 109-year-old station for its final stop.
“All of a sudden, there was an abrupt stop and a big jolt that threw people out of their seats. The lights went out, and we heard a loud crashing noise — like an explosion — that turned out to be the roof of the terminal,” he said. “I heard panicked screams, and everyone was stunned.”
Gov. Chris Christie said a woman who was standing on the platform was killed by debris. Of the 108 others injured, 74 of them were hospitalized, according to Christie and area hospitals.
Christie noted that it wasn’t immediately clear what caused the crash, though he noted that the train was speeding.
“The train came in at much too high rate of speed, and the question is: ‘Why is that?”’ he said.
The National Transportation Safety Board sent investigators to the scene. They will want to know what the operator was doing before the crash and whether the person was distracted, said Bob Chipkevich, who formerly headed the NTSB train crash investigations section.
William Blaine, an engineer for a company that runs freight trains, was inside the station when the train crashed and ran over to help. He walked over to the heavily damaged first car with a transit employee to check on the train’s engineer and said he found him slumped over the controls. Christie said the engineer was in critical condition but co-operating with investigators.