A special memorial service was held last weekend in memory of the 61-year-old Petrolia woman who died in a two-vehicle crash here two weeks ago.
ENNISKILLEN TOWNSHIP – A special memorial service was held last weekend in memory of the 61-year-old Petrolia woman who died in a two-vehicle crash here two weeks ago.
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Family and friends of Cynthia Waters were asked to wear pink clothes and hiking boots during memorial and celebration of life services at Smith Funeral Home in Sarnia as a tribute to her vibrant and outdoors-loving personality.
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“It was beautiful,” Waters’ daughter, Alicia Waters, said Thursday.
As a tribute to the Diet Coke-loving woman who’s completed several long-distance hikes, the group raised small cans of her favorite beverage at the end and said in unison, “Buen Camino, Cynthia.”
“It was really cool hearing all those Coke cans open all at the same time,” her daughter said.
Waters’ obituary is fairly unique as it’s written in the first-person perspective with a positive tone.
“If you’re reading this, then it means I’ve been called to my final adventure, a glorious hike in the afterlife. Don’t fret, I’m not alone,” the obituary says before listing her predeceased parents and grandparents who are “waiting for me at the trail head.”
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She then lists the family members she’s leaving behind including her two children, six grandchildren, brother, nieces, aunts, uncles and cousins along with her sister-by-choice, love of her life, and an abundant group of friends.
“Find peace in knowing that I lived a full and vibrant life. Every path (literally) took me on new adventures all over this world, taught me so much about life, love, gratitude, positivity and the importance of finding joy and peace no matter what life puts at your feet,” the obit says. “See you on the trail.”
The obit was written by her daughter to reflect how she wasn’t a traditional person, she said.
“I wanted to do her justice and send her off in a radiant way, which is how she was,” Alicia Waters said. “I wanted it to just capture the beautiful person that she was.”
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Waters’ positive outlook went to the next level around three years ago despite losing her mother. Loretta Waters-Gauthier, a longtime Sarnia city hall employee, died in December 2020.
“Ever since then, she just became this happy, amazing, wonderful, living-life-to-the-fullest kind of person every day,” Alicia Waters said. “She was so happy.”
Two years ago, Waters hiked a Gruelling 900-kilometer Camino for her 60th birthday and refused to take any shortcuts.
“She loved being outside. She wanted to be outside in nature all the time and she’d always drag her grandkids out with her,” her daughter said. “She loved her grandkids so much.”
Her grandchildren and daughter accompanied her on a hike through Lambton County’s Mystery Falls about two weeks before she died.
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“She was just living every day like it was her last, and then one day, it just was,” her daughter said.
A longtime health-care worker who was conducting in-home assessments, Waters was heading back to Petrolia at the time of the crash on March 8.
The two-vehicle collision at around 11:30 am that Friday involved a commercial truck on Courtright Line at Marthaville Road, where a 61-year-old Petrolia resident was pronounced dead at the scene, Lambton OPP said. A Lambton OPP police officer said Thursday no charges are being laid and the other driver didn’t need medical treatment.
It was similar to another fatal crash in the area three days later, where a 24-year-old Alvinston nurse remembered as a beautiful soul died. Flowers have been placed at both collision sites in their memories.
Waters had about 65 kilometers to go to complete the 900-km Bruce Trail trek and a group of people are hoping to complete that as a tribute to her.
“We’re planning on finishing it for her so she can get her badge,” her daughter said.
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