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Kelowna News

Father thought he'd be celebrating her wedding, not her life

The body of 21-year-old Alexandra Nyuli being loaded onto the top of a Joe Rich Fire Rescue truck after a service at Willow Park Church Saturday.

KELOWNA – In the parking lot of a large church in Rutland, friends and family of the young woman killed in a car accident last week watched as her remains were slowly driven down Highway 33 atop a Joe Rich Fire Rescue truck.

Hundreds of people gathered on Saturday morning, Feb. 7, to remember Alexandra Paulina Nyuli, 21, including dozens of first responders from the Central Okanagan who showed support for her father, Curtis Nyuli, the Joe Rich Fire Chief. It was his team who found the wreckage of her car in the late afternoon of Jan. 28. Her vehicle left the road in Joe Rich and rolled down a 100-metre embankment

During the two-hour service at Willow Park Church, family and friends spoke of her accomplishments, her struggles and the impact she made on their lives.

“Alley was beautiful inside and out,” Curtis said. “Naturally as parents you expect to one day... put on a big celebration for them, especially if they’re girls. It’s usually a wedding. Unfortunately that’s not going to happen.”

He said one of his firefighters was the first to discover the accident.

“He made the call to the fire hall and said ‘Chief, I have some strange tracks going off the road.'”

Those tracks led down a snow covered embankment where the wreckage and Alley's body was found. 

Pastor Perry Stang called her “a treasure” who kept the peace in her family.

“A death has occurred and everything has changed,” he said. “We are painfully aware that life can never be the same again.”

Alley’s older sister Katie, who also played hockey on her midget AAA hockey team, read a poem she wrote.

She also addressed her sister directly.

“There is no better best friend than a sister and there was no better sister than you,” she said. “Although you have physically left us, within me forever you will live on. Rest in paradise my beautiful angel, love, your best friend Katers.”

Alexandra Nyuli's father, mother and sister at her memorial Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015.
Alexandra Nyuli's father, mother and sister at her memorial Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015.

Team mates of Alexandra Nyuli at her memorial service Saturday Feb. 7, 2015.
Team mates of Alexandra Nyuli at her memorial service Saturday Feb. 7, 2015.

Family of Alexandra Nyuli at her memorial service Satuday, Feb. 7, 2015.
Family of Alexandra Nyuli at her memorial service Satuday, Feb. 7, 2015.

Friends of Alexandra Nyuli at her memorial Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015.
Friends of Alexandra Nyuli at her memorial Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015.

Around 100 firefighters from Kelowna, West Kelowna and Joe Rich were at the memorial for Alexandra Nyuli Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015.
Around 100 firefighters from Kelowna, West Kelowna and Joe Rich were at the memorial for Alexandra Nyuli Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015.

The body of Alexandra Nyuli is taken down Hwy. 33 on the top of a Joe Rich Fire Rescue truck Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015.
The body of Alexandra Nyuli is taken down Hwy. 33 on the top of a Joe Rich Fire Rescue truck Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

News from © iNFOnews, 2015
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