Editor: We would like to thank the people of 91原创 for their outpouring of support for our family, during the most stressful time of our lives. Please forgive our tardiness in doing so.
On Nov. 6, 2010 at 4:45 a.m. in Nashville, we received a phone call telling us that our son, Ron, had been hit by a train in Seattle and only had hours to live. We left immediately to be with him, and after spending 60 days in Harborview Hospital, we fully expected him to survive and return home at some point.
We were completely devastated when he passed away on Jan. 4. Throughout the entire ordeal, there was one constant that gave our family the strength, the hope and the faith, to just keep hanging on, to not give up, to continue trusting God for a miracle.
That constant was the friends, the families, even strangers whom we had never met. They supported us with prayers and good wishes, phone calls, hospital visits, hugs, letters, financial gifts, food, drinks, treats. They just kept coming. Firefighters filled the ICU hallway on a regular basis. They were there to support us and to let Ron know how much they cared about him.
They sold 鈥淭eam Dunkley T-shirts鈥� to raise money to help the family with expenses. 91原创鈥檚 business community held fundraisers and blood drives, all being done in honour of Ron. Your newspaper kept people informed as to what was happening on a weekly basis.
It was all so overwhelming to have people like Mayor Peter Fassbender visit Ron twice in Seattle, and pray with him. Kenny Richardson from Pastime Sports donated hundreds of memorial plaques, which he personally had made for the funeral.
The staff at the Rendezvous Pub donated their meat draw monies to the Dunkley Family Fund. Gabby鈥檚 Country Cabaret staff held countless 50/50 draws, with proceeds going to the Dunkley Family Fund.
There were tree-chipping fundraisers put on by the local firefighters. Many businesses helped to gather donations for the family fund, including Starbucks, Tim Hortons and several local retailers.
The day Ron鈥檚 body was returned to Canada, a parade was held in his honour to 鈥淏ring Ron Home.鈥�
The fire department arranged to meet him at the U.S. border, which actually shut down for one and one-half hours, and had flags flying at half-mast. People lined the highway, hundreds of them, to watch the procession carrying Ron to Henderson鈥檚 Funeral Home. The parade consisted of fire trucks, rescue vehicles, ambulances 鈥� first responders from all over the Lower Mainland.
Tony Crawford took pictures of everything that was happening, in order to give our family as many wonderful memories as possible. They are memories of just how much our Ron was loved.
Ron鈥檚 鈥淚ncredible Journey鈥� memorial service was held at Christian Life Assembly, our family church home. The City of 91原创, RCMP, City fire department, Township fire department, and many other local fire departments donated their time to take part in the service. Senior pastor Brent Cantelon led the service.
Mayor Fassbender and retired 91原创 City fire chief Jim McGregor, shared memories and stories about Ron, which made us laugh and cry. Troy Collins sang 鈥淚 Can Only Imagine鈥�, Jeff Sim played 鈥淎mazing Grace鈥� on the bagpipes, an honour guard of firefighters from the Township followed the piper.
Ron鈥檚 casket was carried by his two brothers Billy and Dean and four friends, Paul, Dan, Mike and Shawn, all wearing Denver Broncos jerseys. John Gordon of The Times captured the moment.
There were 1,600 people at Ron鈥檚 memorial service, and outside there were over 600 firefighters and other first responders lining the church driveway and street as the funeral procession made it鈥檚 way to 91原创 Lawn Cemetery. The RCMP guarded the intersections as it passed by. Our amazing son, Ronald Dale Dunkley, now lives forever with Jesus. We can accept that, but we do miss him so very much.
A special thank you to the Township for the memorial tree planted on Arbour Day, in memory of Ron.
The people of 91原创 are the reason that our family managed to get through this ordeal. We could not have hung in there through this terrible tragedy, watching our son fighting for his life, and losing the battle, without having the tremendous support and love that you people gave to us. That is the truth, and we have no other way to let you know how much it meant to us.
This community loved our son so much, held us up, never let go, and your love continues to do so now. As a family, we say 鈥淭hank you 91原创.鈥�
Ronnie loved this city and we fully intend to carry on his legacy as best we can, because we llovet his city too. What an amazing honour it is to belong to this community.
May the Lord bless each and every one of you for all that you are and for all that you do. Please continue to uplift us in your prayers. It takes time to heal.
The Dunkley family,
Gene, Sandy, Billy, Dean and Christi
