'She would give the shirt off her back': Partner of Calgary mother of 5 remembers her giving spirit
CBC
Last winter, Jeffery Poirier took a trip to Ghost Lake, near Cochrane, Alta., with his partner, Angela McKenzie, and her mother, who had never been to a frozen lake before.
It was at that point that Poirier says he saw a look on his partner's face he hadn't seen in a long time: happiness.
"It was probably the first time in a long time that I've seen Ang smile that much. She had went through previous relationships that were very tumultuous," Poirier said.
"And she was just starting to come back to the person I originally knew. And the person that I truly loved."
Today, Poirier says his world has been turned upside down. McKenzie, 40, was killed on Tuesday in what police called a road rage incident.
According to police, occupants of a red Chevrolet Silverado shot at a grey Volkswagen Jetta at about 11:10 p.m., just before the two vehicles collided at an intersection in Forest Lawn, hitting two other cars not involved in the chase.
McKenzie was driving a silver van. Police said she was an innocent victim of the incident and was declared deceased at the scene.
She leaves behind five children. According to family, the father of the children died a few months ago.
Poirier said the entire family have seen their worlds upended, especially the children, who are devastated.
"My main concern is making sure that the children maintain their routines and try to keep some sort of semblance of normalcy in their life," he said.
Poirier said he first met McKenzie when he was 20 years old, while working for her father.
"One of the first things he said to me was, 'You stay away from my daughter.' And I was 20 years old. I did exactly that. I did what the man said," he recalled. "I bought my time for 20 years. And then I started dating her."
He said what he loved about McKenzie was her heart: "No one could compare to it," he said.
"She was an amazing woman. She would give the shirt off her back to somebody standing on the side of the road that needed it because they were cold," he said. "I've physically seen that happen.
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