We would like to extend our condolences to Kyle's family... his Great Grandmother passed away this afternoon at 2:43pm. We will keep Kyle and his family in our thoughts during this sad and difficult time.
I heard from Jessica this evening and she told me of the death of Anna Graham, the production manager that she learned from during her coop and volunteer stint with Theatre & Company. Her untimely death was actually in the local newspaper... I'll put the text at the end.
I know my daughter thought highly of Anna, learned tons from her and really respected her. I feel for her fiance and her family. What a horrible thing to have happen, I'm almost speechless.
To my daughter, hang in there, I know you have a very busy month ahead of you, with many projects, tests, calls, etc... You can do it... I know it seems overwhelming and horrible right now, but do it... it's what Anna would have done and what she would want... she would not want her death to make it hard for you to get through a very important time at school, attending a program that she helped inspire you to pursue. Do it for Anna. I love you, girl.
Link to the article
Wrong-way car kills woman
Ann Marie Graham was a former manager with Theatre & Company
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GUELPH
A woman described as "a rock" in Kitchener's theatre community died early yesterday in a three-vehicle crash on Guelph's Hanlon Expressway.
Ann Marie Graham, 34, died after her car was hit by a man police say was impaired and driving the wrong way on the Guelph expressway shortly before 1 a.m.
For more than four years, Graham, known to friends as Anna, had been production manager at Kitchener's Theatre & Company, essentially running any production held at the company's King Street stage.
Staff at the theatre were so shaken by the news many asked to go home early yesterday, said Chris MacFarlane, who replaced Graham as production manager in February.
"Almost anyone who worked in theatre in this region would have at some point worked with Anna," said Brad Hutton, general manager at the King Street theatre company.
"She was everyone's rock, she was my right hand. This all seems surreal."
For Hutton, she was also a close friend, a neighbour and someone who could be counted on at the last minute to house-sit and walk his dog.
A memorial is being planned within the next month at the theatre, Hutton said.
"She was one of those people who always very positive, very upbeat, and extremely good at her job," said Cheryl Ewing, director of marketing with the King Street theatre. "She had an impact on a huge number of people."
A 38-year-old New Dundee man, Lance W. Fried, has been arrested as a result of the crash. He's charged with impaired driving causing death and driving with more than the legal limit of alcohol in his body, police said, adding alcohol was found in his Ford Explorer.
The driver of a third car involved in the crash was not injured.
Graham, a production co-ordinator for the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, was engaged to marry John Halliwell of Regina.
It appeared Graham was on her way home from work when the crash occurred, Robb said.
Graham was deeply involved in the theatre community outside of Kitchener, too.
She was the Guelph Little Theatre's technical director and a board member for seven years.
Past president Rosalind Slater said Graham continued to lend her technical expertise to various productions.
Her untimely death has stunned many, Slater said.
"This is a real shock to the arts community in this area. We all know and love Anna."
Graham earned a University of Guelph bachelor of arts degree in drama in 1997, and stayed in touch with fellow students and professors like Paul Ord.
"She had a huge network of friends," the drama professor said.
She relished the performing arts, throwing herself into her work "with passion, energy, sensitivity and sensibility," Ord said, noting her talents extended from arts design work to, more recently, management and technical direction.
"She will be missed," Ord said.
She was a stage manager and volunteer for the Hillside music festival and helped direct and stage manage performances of productions by Guelph playwright Tony Berto.
"She was probably the most positive, can-do person I ever met in my life. She was beyond compare," Berto said yesterday.
Graham is survived by relatives in Arkell on Guelph's southern fringe and Brantford, including her aunt, Marilyn Field.
"(She was) a great young lady," Field said yesterday.
Field said Graham was raised in Arkell by her aunt and uncle, Carol and Lloyd Lindsay, before moving to Guelph as she grew into adulthood.
Yesterday, Field said the family was getting many calls from friends and colleagues wondering if the woman who died was "our Anna."
Field's husband, J.C. (John) Pennie, said Graham was a natural leader and a hard worker with considerable skill.
He said her life was snuffed out in a tragic accident that never should have happened.
"I think she had a great future," he said.
"She worked long hours and late hours."
The family, he said yesterday, is too devastated to consider funeral arrangements until today.
"They're still struggling with the grief," Pennie said.
A police investigation continues.
Anyone with information is asked to call Const. Lisa McGinnis at the Rockwood detachment at 519-856-1506.
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