PLANE CRASH: Family devastated after former city resident loses life

PLANE CRASH: Family devastated after former city resident loses life

Sharron Taylor

CORNWALL, Ontario – A Cornwall family has been left reeling after a weekend plane crash in Red Lake that claimed the life of a former city resident who brought joy to everyone she met.

Sharron Taylor, 64, a former Cornwallite with an infectious personality was killed in the Northern Ontario tragedy that also took the lives of four other people on Sunday.

Transportation Safety Board officials are continuing to investigate the cause of the crash that has left a massive hole in a close-knit Cornwall family that is still grappling with the news.

“We always had some good laughs – we always had fun together,” said Shirley Johnston, Sharron’s younger sister, fighting back tears. “She loved people.

“She was very community oriented and did a lot of volunteer work.”

The family said local agencies like the Agape Centre and Knox-St. Paul’s United Church, among others, counted on Sharron when it came to community-focused projects.

Over the years Sharron moved around a lot, calling places like Windsor and Alexandria home – among other places – before returning to Cornwall a few years ago.

She wanted to be closer to her daughter Erin James who was living in nearby Rigaud, Que. at the time.

When James moved to Red Lake, Sharron followed so that she could be closer to her grandsons Hudson and Parker.

She was returning home to Red Lake on Sunday following a trip to Windsor to celebrate her birthday with twin sister Sharlene when the Bearskin Airlines twin-engine turboprop she was in crashed during landing.

Johnston said the loss is immeasurable, especially for Sharlene.

“They are just so much alike,” said Johnston. “Anytime we got together for family functions we always had fun.”

Sharron was known for her ability to cook too.

“If you had a good meal, it was at her house,” said Johnston, adding with a laugh that ” a glass of wine” usually accompanied Sharron during those meals. “It won’t be a family function anymore because she was so close to us.”

Sharron is also survived by her mother Fern Heard-Cardinal, brothers Kevin and Curtis Heard, a daughter Stephanie Delnea and step-daughter Joanne Taylor.

She is predeceased by her brother Kerry Heard and father Floyd Heard.

The family is planning a local service, which is likely to take place the weekend of Nov. 23, though details have not been confirmed.

Two people survived the crash, about 500 km northwest of Thunder Bay, just after 6:30 p.m. local time Sunday. The plane crashed on approach to the Red Lake airport and burst into flames.

The two pilots were among those killed.

The plane had taken off from Sioux Lookout, Ont., on a flight to Red Lake, 270 kilometres north of Kenora, and about 100 kilometres east of the Manitoba boundary.

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