Corktown mourns community champion
Tricia Waldron identified as pedestrian hit and killed by truck last week
The Corktown neighbourhood is mourning the untimely death of a woman hailed as a champion of community building.
Friends and family members have identified Tricia Waldron as the pedestrian who was hit and killed last week by a truck driver at the intersection of Cherry and Mill streets. She was 67.
Toronto police traffic services officer Jason Kraft told the Star an investigation into the fatal incident is still ongoing. No charges have been laid yet against the 64-year-old operator of the 2001 Mack cement truck, he added. News of Waldron’s passing was devastating to the entire family, said her half-sister Tanya Robinson, who lives in Belle River, just outside of Windsor.
She described Waldron as someone who loved the outdoors, lakes, the wildlife and long walks. There was a time she owned a place on Buck Lake near Kingston, and the family would often gather there for big occasions.
Robinson could see that her sister was someone who always loved getting involved in “all kinds of things” that contributed to the improvement of people’s lives in the community. Very committed to the ideals of the Ontario Liberal Party, she served as a provincial candidate in the Kingston area back in the 1990s.
“She was a huge advocate for women’s rights and didn’t do anything half-heartedly,” said Robinson, noting she got that from their father. “I will miss her many visits and what she meant to my two daughters. She was the best aunt anyone could have.”
Afew years ago when Waldron moved into a condo near King and River streets, she quickly and passionately got involved in community — in 2017, she became a board member of the Corktown Residents and Business Association, and for a long time she served as the editor of Corktown News, a seasonal newspaper of the association.
According to Aaron Binder, a business owner in the area and current president of the CRBA, Waldron’s energetic volunteer work was such that she could get anyone excited about any project. He remembers her many visits to his business while soliciting ads for the paper, or how she recently insisted on getting him signed up for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
“Tricia had the power to drive a lot of people to do good,” he said. “It is such a huge blow to us that this community champion is gone.”
Binder said one of many remarkable achievements for Waldron’s work in the community is the new hub for the Anishnawbe Health Centre now under construction near the Distillery District, just steps from where she died. Through her persuasive fundraising efforts, Waldron had so far helped collect nearly $50,000 toward the cause that was “so dear to her.”
Initially, Waldron came to the centre looking for a story for the
Corktown News, said Julie Cookson, executive director of the Anishnawbe Health Foundation. Waldron ended up loving the project so much that she donated $5,000 and threw herself into fundraising.
“Tricia was a woman of action, a very kind person,” Cookson said. “She really wanted to make her community a better place.”
Joanne Millard, another close friend of Waldron as both were members of the Little Trinity Church, had been in the Distillery District twice on Wednesday. At some point she noticed the yellow police tape around the Cherry-Mill corner, but only later that evening did she find out it was about Waldron’s death.
Millard will remember Waldron as someone who was determined to get things done, who loved helping newcomers through various committees at church and who loved everyone with no distinction.
A makeshift memorial has been created at the scene of the crash, where people have left flowers and notes in Waldron’s memory. Little Trinity Church will hold a memorial service for her this Saturday, which will be streamed live on littletrinity.org.