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More profiles of those gone too soon:
Great-grandmother leaves legacy of kindness . Caledon at ‘all-time low’ remembering 33-year-old,
Andrea Bradden was one of three victims of last week’s devastating van crash on Yonge St. who made their home outside Toronto — and with footprints left in different communities, the impact of her death is felt beyond the city’s borders. “Caledon is at an all-time low,” said Allan Thompson, mayor of the town an hour north of Toronto where Bradden, 33, went to high school. She was Andrea Knafelc back then. “I’ve gotta tell you, as a parent, my kids are about the same age,” Thompson said, sighing into the phone as he passed along a written statement to the Star that says he’s “respecting the family’s private grief.” Maurizio Bevilacqua, mayor of Vaughan — which includes Bradden’s more recent home in Woodbridge — wrote in a statement that communities across the world had been shaken by “this unthinkable act of violence.” “The pain is felt even closer to home here in Vaughan,” Bevilacqua wrote. “Our city is mourning, and our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and loved ones of Ms. Bradden.” And while her family requests privacy, Bradden’s life is remembered in small moments. Bradden nestled into pockets of community — a Slovenian Roman Catholic church in Etobicoke, or a cultural association for Slovenians in the GTA.