A lifelong ‘love story’ that ended in tragedy
Husband had heart attack in barn, wife froze trying to save the love of her life
In Exeter, Ont., an elderly husband and wife were found dead Wednesday by local police. The man had suffered a massive heart attack in a barn on the property, an obituary said. The woman had gone outside to find her husband, where police say she fell victim to the extreme cold and died. It was a sad end to a love story that had lasted for years.
Ada Beatrice and Grant Harold Triebner, fixtures in the local community, devout churchgoers and a couple who took care of each other for their whole lives, were “two beautiful lights” who ceased to shine on Wednesday, read an obituary for the couple on a local funeral home website.
Huron County OPP was called for a well-being check at about 9 a.m. and found the bodies of the couple.
Grant, 90, was found just inside an open barn. Ada, 83, was found outdoors.
“His loving and supportive wife died trying to save the love of her life,” the obituary says.
They’d owned the property in southwestern Ontario since 1956.
While Ontario Provincial Police and the coroner’s office continue to investigate the deaths, family and friends are left with memories of a couple who laughed, made music and loved each other deeply.
“Grant was my bus driver for years,” a condolence note on the funeral site from Jackie Westelaken reads. “He was a kind man with a great sense of humour. We always had nice chats as I was often the last to be dropped off.”
Grant, a former farmer, was remembered as a great gentleman. Some mourners noted how nice the pair was together and that they were role models.
Relatives Rob and Karen Jolly recalled memories of Grant telling “wonderful tales of days gone by.” He’d laugh, boisterously, and Ada would respond. “Oh, Grant!”
“They were, to us, an amazing example of how a marriage should be. They very obviously adored each other,” the Jollys wrote.
In a message directed to the Triebners’ children, Paula Leslie echoed the same observation. “Your parents were a love story,” Leslie wrote. “I am so sorry that you had to lose them both at once.”
Mourners noted that the couple will be remembered in the commu- nity as hard-working, gracious, honest and respectful and were loved by many. “Know the whole community is with you as you move forward,” Joyce Black wrote. Grant and Ada were members of the Exeter Bible Fellowship. Their fellows wrote about “the loss of our dear brother and sister” in a Facebook post. Martha Heywood, a member of the fellowship, told the Star via their Facebook page that she’d just made a pot of turkey soup for the couple, and planned to take it to them before seeing the news.
“Their family members and folks from our church would go out and visit them often,” she said.
Grant had health issues, she said, and Ada “suffered a little” from dementia.
“He was determined that he could take care of Ada as she had taken care of him all those years,” Heywood told the Star.
The couple’s gravestone at Exeter Cemetery had been arranged before their death. It’s etched with reference to a bible verse: John11:25. “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.”
The marker will be shared between Grant, Ada and their son Mark, who was born in 1966 and died in 1987. The pair are survived by two other children, daughters Michele and Ann, and five grandchildren.
“They were, to us, an amazing example of how a marriage should be. They very obviously adored each other.” ROB AND KAREN JOLLY ACQUAINTANCES OF THE TRIEBNERS