Scrap "bullet" kills Caledonia accountant
July 09, 2009
Raveena Aulakh
Every once in a while, Richard Stewart, an accountant with an office in Caledonia, would drive to Toronto to meet his clients.
On Tuesday, he had a couple of appointments in the city.
He was in his Oldsmobile driving east on QEW near Highway 427 when a piece of metal hurtled "like a bullet" through the windshield, killing him instantly.
The 54-year-old grandfather, from the town of Simcoe southwest of Toronto, was killed instantly when a piece of scrap metal about the size of a licence plate and almost 2.5-centimeters thick struck him on the head about 1:10 p.m.
Yesterday, his family was devastated and the small town stunned.
"It's such a tragedy – everyone is in shock," said Sherry Tukacs, receptionist at Stewart's office for six years. "He was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Stewart, who leaves his wife Ann Marie McGhee-Stewart, a lawyer based in Simcoe, and two grown children, Jordan and Ryan, was remembered as a proud grandfather, a loving father and an inspiring co-worker. "He was a kind employer," said Tukacs. "But he worked very hard, many days (from) 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., if not more.''
Friends and family mostly knew Stewart as Rick.
Larry Hemeryck, an accountant in Simcoe, was good friends with Stewart when the two worked at Millard Rouse & Rosebrugh, an accounting firm. "He doted on his kids and when his son was playing baseball, Rick used to coach kids," said Hemeryck. "He was really patient with them, too."
For all his fun-loving ways, Stewart had another side to him, too.
Hemeryck remembers when the two were working together, a young girl tracked him down to say thank you. "Stewart had saved her from a house fire in Hamilton years ago when he was a youth," said Hemeryck. He saved the then 5-year-old in 1977 when his family used to live on Hamilton's beach strip.
Yesterday, OPP Sgt. Dave Woodford said the piece of metal was not part of a vehicle that had detached, nor was it thrown off an overpass as initially feared.
July 09, 2009
Raveena Aulakh
Every once in a while, Richard Stewart, an accountant with an office in Caledonia, would drive to Toronto to meet his clients.
On Tuesday, he had a couple of appointments in the city.
He was in his Oldsmobile driving east on QEW near Highway 427 when a piece of metal hurtled "like a bullet" through the windshield, killing him instantly.
The 54-year-old grandfather, from the town of Simcoe southwest of Toronto, was killed instantly when a piece of scrap metal about the size of a licence plate and almost 2.5-centimeters thick struck him on the head about 1:10 p.m.
Yesterday, his family was devastated and the small town stunned.
"It's such a tragedy – everyone is in shock," said Sherry Tukacs, receptionist at Stewart's office for six years. "He was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Stewart, who leaves his wife Ann Marie McGhee-Stewart, a lawyer based in Simcoe, and two grown children, Jordan and Ryan, was remembered as a proud grandfather, a loving father and an inspiring co-worker. "He was a kind employer," said Tukacs. "But he worked very hard, many days (from) 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., if not more.''
Friends and family mostly knew Stewart as Rick.
Larry Hemeryck, an accountant in Simcoe, was good friends with Stewart when the two worked at Millard Rouse & Rosebrugh, an accounting firm. "He doted on his kids and when his son was playing baseball, Rick used to coach kids," said Hemeryck. "He was really patient with them, too."
For all his fun-loving ways, Stewart had another side to him, too.
Hemeryck remembers when the two were working together, a young girl tracked him down to say thank you. "Stewart had saved her from a house fire in Hamilton years ago when he was a youth," said Hemeryck. He saved the then 5-year-old in 1977 when his family used to live on Hamilton's beach strip.
Yesterday, OPP Sgt. Dave Woodford said the piece of metal was not part of a vehicle that had detached, nor was it thrown off an overpass as initially feared.