Brother says goodbye to Mountie twin
LANGLEY — The twin brother of a Mountie killed in a car crash near Vancouver told a regimental funeral Tuesday he can only hope to be the officer and the man that his better half became.
Const. Ben Oliver’s voice was tight with emotion as he explained he and his brother Adrian were most of the way toward their childhood dream of becoming Mounties together and living in houses across the street from each other.
As kids, he said, “we threw other ideas around, like maybe we’d live in the same house or we’d live beside each other. But we decided we’d want our own privacy, so across the street would be just enough.”
Six months ago, Oliver said he moved in next to his brother and his brother’s spouse, allowing him to spend every day with them.
“In 28 years of life, Adrian and I have only been apart for 12 months. It was always difficult for me to be away from him, but I never really missed him.”
Const. Adrian Oliver, 28, an officer with the Surrey detachment, was killed last week when his unmarked cruiser was struck by a transport truck.
Following a solemn procession, a sea of red-coated RCMP members filled an auditorium in suburban Langley, southeast of Vancouver.
Also attending were politicians from all three levels of government and representatives from American and Australian police forces.
A family friend sang Sarah McLachlan’s I Will Remember You, before mourners were introduced to Adrian Oliver by people who knew him best.
Chief Supt. Andrew Boland, a friend of the family who watched the twins grow up, told the funeral Ben and Adrian were born in Williams Lake. Their father Joe’s career with the RCMP would take them to New Brunswick and eventually to Ottawa, the city they came to call home.
Boland said he saw a picture recently of the twins as children dressed as Batman and Superman, foreshadowing their careers adults, caring for people.
He said Adrian was “full of fun and laughter,” with a quirky sense of humour who easily made friends.
As young men, the twins travelled during a brief modelling career, but they were eventually led toward the careers they dreamed of as boys. Brother Ben went off to the RCMP training headquarters in Regina first. Adrian joined him a year later.
“I’ve often said, ‘There are people the RCMP needs and there are people who need the RCMP.’ In Adrian’s case, the RCMP needed him,” Boland said.
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