Friends and family remember four Canadians slain in Las Vegas
A model with two young sons and a restaurant employee about to be promoted to manager are among the Canadians confirmed dead in a mass shooting at a country music show in Las Vegas.
Tara Roe Smith, who was 34 and lived in Okotoks, Alta., was there with her husband, Zach, and another couple for a weekend getaway, her aunt Val Rodgers said Tuesday.
“They were there just to have a good time and to enjoy a concert.”
“She was a beautiful soul,” Rodgers said from her home in Brandon, Man. “She was a wonderful mother and our family is going to miss her dearly.”
Roe Smith worked with Calgary modelling agency Sophia Models International for 10 years, said owner Bill Giofu. She also worked as an educational assistant at the Foothills School Division.
Lyndsay Perham’s childhood friend, Calla Medig, was also shot at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Going to Las Vegas for the festival had become an annual tradition for the country music fan.
Medig, 28, was with her best friend when she was shot, Perham said. The friend managed to get Medig to a hospital, where she died.
Medig worked at Moxie’s restaurant in west Edmonton, said her boss Scott Collingwood. When news broke about the shooting, he called her, but it went right to voice mail. Monday he called her roommate, who went with her, and heard the news.
“A lot of us around here have super heavy hearts and we already miss her.”
Jessica Klymchuk was a mom of four in the northwestern Alberta town of Valleyview. She she worked as an educational assistant, librarian and Catholic school bus driver.
St. Stephen’s School was planning a candlelight vigil for her on Tuesday night.
“Jessica was an amazing mother who worked to provide her children with as best a life as she could,” Noella Marie wrote on the GoFundMe page, adding she was engaged to the “love of her life,” Brent Irla.
Jordan McIldoon would have turned 24 on Friday and was a month shy of completing a course to qualify as a heavy-duty mechanic.
His parents Alan and Angela said he grew up in Maple Ridge, B.C.
“He loved riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle and driving his big redneck diesel truck,” the couple wrote. “He loved NASCAR and country music and was rarely seen out of his cowboy boots.”
Bartender Heather Gooze was serving him when the gunfire began. He was shot in the stomach and she helped carry him out. She held his hand. “The fingers kind of squeezed and then just stopped. You don’t have to be a doctor to know…,” she said. “I couldn’t go.”