Family, friends die sudden loss of happy, funny, caring Tavistock teen

Family and friends are mourning the sudden loss of a sweet, funny and caring girl who had the ability to light up any room she was in.

Lillie Riehl, 16, died Sunday after the vehicle she was driving left the road and struck a tree east of Tavistock, Perth County OPP say. Riehl was rushed to hospital by local paramedics, where she was later pronounced dead.

While police said wouldn’t be releasing her identity, family and friends were mourning her loss through online tributes and a fundraiser in support of the family.

“Lillie was that best friend that would check in on us and would help out with anything, even if she didn’t feel like it,” said Alee Hargreaves, one of Lillie’s closest friends, who spoke Tuesday on behalf of their larger friend group , which includes Lillie’s boyfriend, Luke Clement, and close friends Ellise McGuire-Burton and Makaya Moore. “To have someone like her in your life is a blessing. She also made the room full of laughter and to feel her presence was a gift.

“I’m going to miss her laugh and her smile and our little picnic dates. … We would always go for drives, and she would break out into song and start dancing in the car. She made everyone sing.”

Moore said her friend was “always a bright person.”

“She loved her Reese’s Pieces peanut butter cups,” Moore added. “Sunflowers are her favorite and her baking was phenomenal. She always made so many extra goodies for us to have.”

After hearing of Lillie’s death on Sunday, Hargreaves, Moore and Lillie’s other close friends – roughly a dozen in total – launched an online fundraiser to support Lillie’s family with funeral and other costs. As of Tuesday afternoon, the effort had already brought in more than $13,000.

“We honestly expected just a few donations, but the fact that so many people are donating is just a blessing,” Hargeaves said.

Lillie’s infectious laugh, warm smile and bubbly personality will also be missed by her friends and teachers at Infinity Dance in Stratford, where she danced for four years prior to the pandemic and continued supporting her older sister, Emma, ​​even after she stopped classes.

“She was amazing. She was hilarious,” said Infinity Dance owner and director Jeanine Henderson-Kitching. “She was so funny and goofy and silly, and she never took herself too seriously. She just had this joy she carried with her. … She hasn’t danced with us in a few years, but her older sister, Emma, ​​is in our Dance Ability program. Emma has a mental disability … and Lillie had just started driving her to class, so we were seeing her again. It was so amazing.

“We just had our recital this past weekend, and Lillie came backstage to watch her sister dance and we shared this completely gorgeous moment where we made eye contact and watched Emma and said, ‘She’s doing so good.’ Another one of my teachers witnessed this beautiful hug they had backstage after Emma danced because it’s a big deal for kids with disabilities to dance in our recitals,” Henderson-Kitching added.

Having remained close with the Riehl family, Henderson-Kitching said Lillie was a supportive and loving sister to Emma and her other siblings, as well as her mom’s best friend – a rarity among most teens.

In a post to Facebook on Tuesday, Lillie’s aunt, Samantha Lee Radics, said Lillie’s parents and her entire family are hoping for support, love and prayers in the aftermath of this tragedy.

“No one can prepare you for the loss of a child or loved one, and the decisions and preparations that have to be made before you can even fathom what has happened. … I have no words and don’t think I fully believe it yet, so for now I just ask for your love and prayers for her parents, for Lillie’s siblings and the rest of our family,” she wrote.

Lillie was a Grade 11 student at Stratford District secondary school. In a letter sent home to parents on Monday, principal Kimberley Crawford wrote that additional personal support from the Avon Maitland District school board’s tragic events response support team would be at the school this week to provide counseling and other aid to students who need it.

“This is a very difficult time for our (school) family as her friends, family and staff members mourn this loss,” wrote Crawford, noting the school’s flag will fly at half mast as a tribute to Lillie. “It is natural to feel sad ,even if you did not know Lillie. In times like this, we lean on each other. … Students may wish to discuss this loss with parents (or) guardians. Please provide this opportunity. It is very important that students have the chance to express their feelings and feel a circle of support from home, the school and the community at large. Parents (and) guardians are invited to call the school if they have questions or require information on supports that are available. … Our condolences are extended to Lillie’s family and friends.”

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