• The funeral of Charlene Reaveley will be held on Saturday, February 26 at Haney Presbyterian Church (11858 216th Street, Maple Ridge) at 1:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers the family is asking people to make a donation to the Dan Reaveley Trust Fund. Donations to the Reaveley family can be made at any Royal Bank branch. Anyone wanting to contribute must give the branch number (04320) and the account number (5032180) when making their donation.
• A viewing for Lorraine Cruz will be held Saturday, Feb. 26 at Burquitlam Funeral Home (625 North Road, Coquitlam) from 3 to 10 p.m. There will be a Sunday viewing at 1 p.m. followed by a 2 p.m. memorial service and refreshments afterward. Flowers will be accepted in Cruz's memory.
A nickel and about a dozen pennies will be the first donation to a fund set up in Charlene Reaveley's name.
Joe Di Giandomenico, who lives next door to the Reaveley family, said the money came from a seven-year-old girl who lives in the area and wanted to help the family - father Dan and four young children, grieving the loss of their wife and mother in an accident early Saturday in Coquitlam.
"She took this out of her piggy bank and put everything she had in it," Di Giandomenico said as he held up a Ziploc bag full of change. "This is the start of the trust fund."
Di Giandomenico said Dan Reaveley, who survived the tragic accident that took the life of his wife and Lorraine Cruz on the weekend, will need money as he begins the process of putting his life back together.
"He's got a lot on his plate," Di Giandomenico said. "I don't know any other way to help him out except financially because that is what he is going to need."
Charlene Reaveley, who worked as a personal trainer, was well-known in the tight-knit Meadowbrook neighbourhood, which sits hemmed between Westwood Street, Lougheed Highway and Dewdney Trunk Road. Di Giandomenico said it was not uncommon for 15 to 20 children to be playing in her yard with her own four children, who range in age from 18 months to 10 years.
Over the last several years, Di Giandomenico said his daughter became close with the Reaveley family, spending time at the Irvine Street home helping to look after the children.
"They have a pool in their backyard," he said. "With all the kids they would have in their backyard in the summertime, it was organized chaos."
The couple had just returned from Mexico, where they celebrated their wedding anniversary on Valentine's Day. Di Giandomenico said it was the first time the pair had spent time alone together away from their children and busy household.
He encouraged anyone with the means to donate money to support the family, which he said did not have a life insurance policy. The costs of child care and looking after the family home would be tough for Dan, who works at Maple Ridge Chrysler, he said.
A photo of Reaveley was placed at the front counter of the Port Moody recreation centre on Tuesday, informing those who took classes with the fitness instructor of her death. She had worked at the facility and at Port Coquitlam's Hyde Creek recreation centre since 2009, teaching spinning classes and holding several morning boot camps.
Dave Wasylyk, who lives across the street from the Reaveley family, said the whole neighbourhood has been reeling since news of Charlene's death spread.
"I haven't slept in a couple of days," he said. "Every time I close my eyes, I see her. Everybody has taken it very hard."
Outside the courthouse on Monday, friends and family expressed outrage that Cory Sater, who is facing 10 charges ranging from dangerous driving causing death to impaired driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident, did not appear before a judge Monday. Instead, his lawyer, Tony Serka, said Sater wished to remain in custody until March 3, when the crown and defence would arrange his bail hearing.
Amber Chapman, whose child goes to Meadowbrook elementary with Reaveley's eldest, said Sater's decision not to face the families was disappointing.
"I think Cory is a coward for not coming out," she said. "He should come out and face everyone he hurt."
(Sater has not been convicted of the crimes for which he's charges.)
Michael Bennett, Lorraine Cruz's stepfather, said he, too, was frustrated with Sater's decision to face the families. He told reporters outside the courthouse that he feared that the justice system would be to lenient with the accused.
He described his daughter as a beautiful person and said his family still doesn't understand how the tragedy happened.
"We're devastated," he told CTV News. "That's about it. We're trying to cope. We're trying to realize that she's gone."
