Investigation into driver death

63-year old Wayne Vanderwier was just days away from celebrating his 40th wedding anniversary. But last Monday, the truck driver from Smithville was killed in an industrial accident at a Pelham greenhouse.

As Lauran Sabourin tells us, his family has now spoken publicly about their loss.

Wayne Vanderwier was a family man. He had five children and thirteen grandchildren. He was married to his wife Martha for four decades: “Wayne was the love of my life. He loved his kids. And he adored his grandkids. He

will be sadly missed.”

Last Monday, Wayne delvered plastic wrap to Willowbrook Greenhouse in Pelham. He was helping the forklift operator unload the 900 pound skids when one of them shifted and struck him.

Late Monday afternoon, the family had received a phone call telling them to get to Welland County General Hospital. There had been an accident. But because Wayne was so safety conscious it didn’t even cross their minds that he had died.”

Daughter Barb Vanderkolk: “Very careful, very cautious. Always checked things twice just to make sure that he was safe. That we were safe that others would be safe.”

Recently he was pulling a boat to a cottage.

“He gets on the road. He says I should just check this one more time.”

Wayne had driven for GGS Structures in Vineland for more than 20 years. He had deep roots in Smithville. He loved music. Played the trumpet at Smithville Christian Reform Church.

Son Calvin Vanderweir: “My dad was a true role model. He loved the lord. He loved my mom, he loved all us kids.”

On Saturday, 24 family members had planned to celebrate Wayne and Martha’s 40th wedding anniversary.

Daughter Dianne VanderKnyff: “Our plan was to go away for a weekend at our cottage and we were going to surprise our parents. And we all had big expectations of the weekend. We were all looking forward to it.”

Instead of celebrating a wedding anniversary, the family will celebrate Wayne’s life at a funeral on Friday. The Ministry of Labour is saying very little, other than it’s still investigating how the incident happened.