Pat Ellsworth still feels shock following a collision in New Brunswick that killed his sister last week – seven years after his mother died from injuries in a crash on P.E.I.
Alberton native Bernice Ellsworth, 64, died instantly in a head-on collision in Shediac, N.B., on Thursday.
Her long-time partner, Joan Burgess, 78, a native of New Brunswick, was badly injured, says Pat. He adds Burgess is expected to be in hospital for several weeks after undergoing surgery earlier this week.
The pair, travelling in a sport utility vehicle driven by Burgess, were struck by a car that RCMP says crossed the centre line. The man driving the car died at the scene.
Pat, who notes he has a considerable problem with bad nerves, says it is a struggle to put his immense loss into words.
“Everybody loved her,’’ he says. “She had a lot of friends.’’
Pat says Bernice was a happy-go-lucky person who loved life and was willing to help anybody.
“It just happened that it was not her day. It wasn’t our day. It wasn’t nobody’s day.’’
-Pat Ellsworth
One of 14 children, Bernice grew up in Alberton and eventually went on to work for the Irving Tissue Corporation in Ontario.
Bernice and Burgess, who were together for the past 15 years, stayed in P.E.I. each year from October to May and spent their summers in Ontario.
Pat says his sister had just returned to P.E.I. one week ago and Bernice and her partner were in Saint John, N.B., visiting Burgess’s dying niece when Bernice was struck and killed.
“It just happened that it was not her day,’’ says Pat.
“It wasn’t our day. It wasn’t nobody’s day.’’
The tragedy marks the second time Pat has lost a loved one to a traffic collision.
Pat’s mother, Dora Ellsworth of Trainor Road, died July 24, 2012, from injuries sustained in a collision 18 days earlier.
Bernice is survived by 12 siblings.
There is no visitation out of respect to a personal request.
Bernice’s funeral will be held at the Immaculate Conception Church in Palmer Road at a later date in December.
Memorial donations can be made to Immaculate Conception Cemetery Fund.
