The funeral will be held in Arnprior tomorrow, Friday, Aug. 3, for a popular teenager killed in a single-vehicle crash in West Carleton last Sunday morning.
Fitzroy Harbour’s Lisa Roesler, 17, was found dead in her vehicle by a woman walking her dog at about 9:30 a.m. near the corner of Dunrobin and Crown Point roads. The vehicle appeared to have failed to make a turn on the gravel road, ending up in heavily-treed ditch.
A truck utility box filled with some of Roesler’s favourite type of hats and heartfelt messages quickly sprung up as a memorial at the site.
Her grieving family, including father Rob, mother Colleen, brother Eric, 22, and sister Shannon, 19, were unavailable for comment this week.
However, media reports say the Arnprior District High School student drove two boys home to Morgan’s Grant in Kanata at about 5 a.m. following her father’s 50th birthday party in Fitzroy Harbour. She could have driven home via Carp Road, but appears to have taken Dunrobin Road, perhaps missing the turn at Galetta Side Road but not noticing until she hit the gravel portion that leads down to a steep end at the Ottawa River.
Police didn’t have an update as of Wednesday, but said they had no reason to suspect alcohol played a factor in the crash.
Lisa is being fondly remembered as a bright student and talented athlete, a pretty girl who was open and confident around others. In June she was interviewed in the Arnprior Chronicle-Guide about the successful rugby season, and how she was looking forward to next season.
She was one of the top players of the championship ADHS rugby team and was being relied on heavily to be one of the squad’s leaders with the graduation of several veterans.
Her skilled play had already attracted the attention of several university and college coaches.
ADHS principal Neil Farmer said, from his perspective, he was thinking about her friends and all the students at his school. He said students tend to be much maligned, but at moments like this they band together admirably.
“It’s sad for them, but they are really good at rallying together,” he said. “It’s a loss to ADHS, but a bigger loss to the family. She had a mix of everything.”
Farmer, whose daughter is only a few years younger, said Lisa was a “well-rounded person” who left her stamp on the school.
Lisa was an honour student going into Grade 12 at ADHS in September. She had hoped to study English literature at Concordia University.
This summer she was working as a hostess at East Side Mario’s where she will be sorely missed.
WAKE AND FUNERAL
Family and friends are invited to pay their respects at the Pilon Family Funeral Home and Chapel, 50 John St. N., in Arnprior today (Thursday) from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m.. A service to remember and celebrate Lisa’s life will be conducted at Glad Tidings Pentecostal Church, 116 Baskin Dr. W., Arnprior, this Friday morning at 11 a.m. Rev.