Passed away 31 January 2006 - age 51
The Newspaper Article that ran about the accident;
Trucker dies in fiery crash
By Jordan Press
Local News - Wednesday, February 01, 2006 @ 07:00
Wayne Fournier loved the outdoors.
Whether it was working on the lawn or in his garden or watching the cows and horses on the farm across from his home, Fournier loved being outside. On a trip out west with his wife Karen, Fournier went out in a boat and sat, waiting for the right fish to catch his line.
“He had his boat, we had our camper and he was fishing,” Karen said. “He caught a trout.” The man who family recalled as a great chef who loved the outdoors died yesterday morning in a fiery crash on Highway 401, about 15 minutes from home. “It is a hard thing,” Karen said, sitting in the family’s home. “He’s going to make a big void in our lives.” The 51-year-old Fournier had been driving his tractor trailer home from Toronto a route he followed every night when he collided with another truck around 2:30 a.m. just west of Highway 38. A Hamilton-area driver pulled out of a truck stop and entered the merging lane while Fournier drove his truck in the right-hand lane, said Ontario Provincial Police Const. Rob Besselink.
“It’s unclear at this point who entered whose lane,” Besselink said.
The trucks clipped, and the collision sent Fournier’s truck into the rock cut where it caught fire. “It’s very tragic,” Besselink said.
“The cause of death was the collision. The cause of the accident we don’t know yet.” During the day, investigators were on scene trying to determine what caused the crash, analysing debris and skid marks. An autopsy was to be conducted yesterday. The accident closed the 401 eastbound lanes from Odessa to Kingston until late in the day. Traffic was diverted to Highway 2, leaving a long line of creeping cars and trucks to wind their way through the countryside until they could reconnect with the 401 at Gardiners Road. The highway was still down to one lane last night. Fournier had taken up driving tractor-trailers on his dedicated route after retiring from the military. He had spent 20 years as a chef, cooking around the world.
He got the taste for being in the kitchen in high school in Brockville, where he grew up. Fournier worked as a short order cook at the local Zellers before taking the chef training course at Algonquin College in Ottawa. It was also while working in high school that he met Karen. They started out as friends, but Fournier had his eye on her and finally their friendship grew into love. Thirty years ago, they tied the knot. But the military beckoned and Fournier signed up. At one point, he spent six months as part of a peacekeeping mission in Cyprus. Karen said the military was a good life, as the family got to move to different cities and places. In the military, Fournier was known as a guy who could do anything with everything, making elaborate meals with whatever was left lying around. His hours always left him time to come home and make dinner for his family. Karen said her husband made all the meals with some help to make the table look good.
“He didn’t make it pretty he’d make it good,” she said. “The last few years with him driving, meals were not the same. But he would still make Sunday night dinners.” And how he cooked was part of the show. “A pinch of this, a dash of that never a measuring cup,” said his son Shaun, 23. “He’d just throw it into the pan.”
Finally, after Fournier retired from the military, the family decided to make their home in the Storrington area. He was looking for something to do and took up driving. For someone who was very private and enjoyed having his own time, driving seemed a good fit.
“I think he enjoyed the peace and quiet when he was driving,” Karen said. “He enjoyed being by himself at nighttime.” The rest of the time, he enjoyed being with his three sons Shaun, Scott, 26, and Kevin, 21 and spending time on the golf course with his older brother Ray. “Yeah, he thought he was Tiger Woods,” Ray said, laughing. But Fournier never took his golfing seriously, Ray added. It was all about spending time laughing with family and friends. He was also ready to lend a helping hand. Fournier enjoyed working, especially if it involved physical activity, said his father-in-law Lloyd Smith. One time, Smith and Fournier noticed a downed tree bent over Smith’s property. There was a mention of getting rid of it, but Smith didn’t jump at the task. “I didn’t pay any attention to it and five minutes later he’s cutting it down,” Smith said.
Word of Fournier’s death spread through the small community quickly, with members of the family’s church congregation bring over food and providing support. “We’re in a small community out here,” Karen said. “I’m sure we’ll get through this.” As for the rest of the family, Karen said their three boys were “feeling the unfairness of it today.” But it hasn’t hit that Fournier is gone, Ray said. “Today, it’s still shock,” he said.
Trucker dies in fiery crash
By Jordan Press
Local News - Wednesday, February 01, 2006 @ 07:00
Wayne Fournier loved the outdoors.
Whether it was working on the lawn or in his garden or watching the cows and horses on the farm across from his home, Fournier loved being outside. On a trip out west with his wife Karen, Fournier went out in a boat and sat, waiting for the right fish to catch his line.
“He had his boat, we had our camper and he was fishing,” Karen said. “He caught a trout.” The man who family recalled as a great chef who loved the outdoors died yesterday morning in a fiery crash on Highway 401, about 15 minutes from home. “It is a hard thing,” Karen said, sitting in the family’s home. “He’s going to make a big void in our lives.” The 51-year-old Fournier had been driving his tractor trailer home from Toronto a route he followed every night when he collided with another truck around 2:30 a.m. just west of Highway 38. A Hamilton-area driver pulled out of a truck stop and entered the merging lane while Fournier drove his truck in the right-hand lane, said Ontario Provincial Police Const. Rob Besselink.
“It’s unclear at this point who entered whose lane,” Besselink said.
The trucks clipped, and the collision sent Fournier’s truck into the rock cut where it caught fire. “It’s very tragic,” Besselink said.
“The cause of death was the collision. The cause of the accident we don’t know yet.” During the day, investigators were on scene trying to determine what caused the crash, analysing debris and skid marks. An autopsy was to be conducted yesterday. The accident closed the 401 eastbound lanes from Odessa to Kingston until late in the day. Traffic was diverted to Highway 2, leaving a long line of creeping cars and trucks to wind their way through the countryside until they could reconnect with the 401 at Gardiners Road. The highway was still down to one lane last night. Fournier had taken up driving tractor-trailers on his dedicated route after retiring from the military. He had spent 20 years as a chef, cooking around the world.
He got the taste for being in the kitchen in high school in Brockville, where he grew up. Fournier worked as a short order cook at the local Zellers before taking the chef training course at Algonquin College in Ottawa. It was also while working in high school that he met Karen. They started out as friends, but Fournier had his eye on her and finally their friendship grew into love. Thirty years ago, they tied the knot. But the military beckoned and Fournier signed up. At one point, he spent six months as part of a peacekeeping mission in Cyprus. Karen said the military was a good life, as the family got to move to different cities and places. In the military, Fournier was known as a guy who could do anything with everything, making elaborate meals with whatever was left lying around. His hours always left him time to come home and make dinner for his family. Karen said her husband made all the meals with some help to make the table look good.
“He didn’t make it pretty he’d make it good,” she said. “The last few years with him driving, meals were not the same. But he would still make Sunday night dinners.” And how he cooked was part of the show. “A pinch of this, a dash of that never a measuring cup,” said his son Shaun, 23. “He’d just throw it into the pan.”
Finally, after Fournier retired from the military, the family decided to make their home in the Storrington area. He was looking for something to do and took up driving. For someone who was very private and enjoyed having his own time, driving seemed a good fit.
“I think he enjoyed the peace and quiet when he was driving,” Karen said. “He enjoyed being by himself at nighttime.” The rest of the time, he enjoyed being with his three sons Shaun, Scott, 26, and Kevin, 21 and spending time on the golf course with his older brother Ray. “Yeah, he thought he was Tiger Woods,” Ray said, laughing. But Fournier never took his golfing seriously, Ray added. It was all about spending time laughing with family and friends. He was also ready to lend a helping hand. Fournier enjoyed working, especially if it involved physical activity, said his father-in-law Lloyd Smith. One time, Smith and Fournier noticed a downed tree bent over Smith’s property. There was a mention of getting rid of it, but Smith didn’t jump at the task. “I didn’t pay any attention to it and five minutes later he’s cutting it down,” Smith said.
Word of Fournier’s death spread through the small community quickly, with members of the family’s church congregation bring over food and providing support. “We’re in a small community out here,” Karen said. “I’m sure we’ll get through this.” As for the rest of the family, Karen said their three boys were “feeling the unfairness of it today.” But it hasn’t hit that Fournier is gone, Ray said. “Today, it’s still shock,” he said.