'Touched so many lives': Community mourns N.B. man killed in workplace accident
Colette Goodine still anticipates the moment when her son walks through the door of her Tilley, N.B., home, carrying the smirk on his face that always cheered her up.
A little more than a week has passed since Jeremy Goodine died while making a routine delivery in his work truck last Wednesday.
"We're all in shock. It isn't believable," Colette Goodine said.
"We're just waiting for him to come home with a nice little smirk on his face and, you know, make us laugh."
Goodine said her son, 34, was born and raised in Tilley, went to school in Perth-Andover and ended up settling in the community and having two children, Dawson and Miley.
She said he was well-known as an employee at Wiebe's Home Hardware Building Centre in East Centreville, and in his role as a firefighter with the Perth-Andover Fire Department.
"He was kindhearted, very tenderhearted. He loved to laugh and tease and joke," Goodine said.
"He loved his children... Everything for him revolved around his children."
Goodine said she was told that on Oct. 6, her son was delivering wood pellets to some elderly residents.
Though he wasn't named, WorkSafeNB, in an email, confirmed a New Brunswicker died on the job in an incident that happened on Route 7990 near Hartland around 4:30 p.m. AT on Oct. 6.
"The worker was operating a boom truck when the boom hit a power line," said Laragh Dooley, executive director of corporate communications with WorkSafeNB.
"WorkSafeNB officers are investigating the cause of the incident. This investigation will help us determine how the fatality may have been prevented and whether there were any violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act or its regulations."
In a Facebook post, Wiebe's Home Hardware said it would close the store for part of the day on Oct. 12 in respect to Goodine, and that in appreciation of his service, it was accepting donations to be presented as a gift to his family.
"Jeremy touched so many of our lives with his kindness and good humour," the post said.
Volunteer firefighter
Goodine's death was also felt across the Perth-Andover Fire Department, which he volunteered with for the past four years, said Chief Phil Walker.
"He was a really good guy," Walker said.
"Anytime we did anything extra around the department, like helping out in the community, he would always say, 'I'll be there if I'm not with my kids.'"
According to his obituary, Goodine is survived by his partner, Bobbie Davenport, children, Dawson and Miley Goodine, parents, John and Colette Goodine, his sister, Renee Sullivan, his brother, Andrew Goodine, and many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.
