Brockville friends lament man's death
The teddy bears came back to Brockville this week, no longer in jest, but in mourning.
Chris Fox, a misunderstood man known for placing teddy bears in visible spots on busy Brockville streets, was the 33-year-old victim of a fatal Ottawa hit-and-run on Tuesday, his friend, Jordan Hall, confirmed on Friday.
“He was the prankster of the city,” said Hall.
“Deep down, I knew he always meant well.”
Hall described Fox as a childhood friend who struggled with mental health problems and addiction, who had his frequent run-ins with Brockville police, but who did not have a malicious bone in his body.
While many took him the wrong way, he was a kind soul who enjoyed being around children and loved animals, he said.
“He had so much love to give, but he had so much negativity surrounding him,” Hall added.
“He struggled his entire life.” Somehow, early on, Fox acquired the affectionate nickname “Swiper,” after the mischievous fox character in the Dora the Explorer children's series, and it stuck with him all his life.
Locals who did not know him likely encountered one of his most frequent pranks: tying teddy bears to light poles or other places in public view.
“He was just doing it to get a rise out of people, to make people smile,” Hall said.
This week, the teddy bears accumulated on Brockville's cenotaph, placed there by Swiper's friends, along with a large cardboard “RIP” sign urging people to write messages in tribute.
“The cenotaph was his place of clarity,” Hall said, adding Fox could often be found there.
On Friday, the makeshift memorial was moved to the Hardy Park gazebo.
“He was a pure heart,” Hall said. Fox moved to Ottawa to go to a rehab centre and was 18 months sober, Hall said.
Ottawa police were still investigating the fatal hit-and-run collision Tuesday evening on Baseline Road.
Joly Bourgeois, 35, of Ottawa, was charged with dangerous operation of a conveyance causing death and failing to stop at the scene, in connection with the incident.
Brockville Coun. Leigh Bursey also knew Fox and said Fox used to call the teddy bear pranks his “artwork.”
“He was an eccentric character,” Bursey said.
“It wouldn't be uncharacteristic to see him rapping and shadowboxing.”
“He was always looking to do positive things in the community,” Bursey added.
“He loved to make people smile.” Another longtime friend, Jennifer McWilliams, said Fox had “a contagious zest for life,” was deeply religious and “he would give you the shirt off his back.”
She described her lost friend as “a broken child who tried to find the joy in the world.”
Brockville Recorder & Times