It was a moment no family member wants to go through. Preparing a funeral service is hard enough, but for the Altizer family that pain was five-fold.
The Civic Centre was filled to capacity Sunday night as more than 900 people came to pay their respects to Matt and Leah Altizer, their children Jonathan and Emily and Matt's older sister Heather Kress, 47.
"We've all, of course, been in knots," said Gene Altizer, oldest brother of The Prince George Citizen systems manager Matt Altizer. "The anticipation of the weekend has been exhausting and to prepare obituaries for five people in your family is just an overwhelming task."
The five all lost their lives in a tragic highway accident Feb. 9. The sport utility vehicle Matt, 40, was driving crossed the centre line and collided head-on with a transport truck on Highway 97 north of McLeese Lake. According to the BC Coroners Service, all five died instantly.
The family was on their way to Vancouver to watch professional tennis matches at the Davis Cup - a dream vacation for tennis buff Matt, who was married to Leah, 35, for 16 years.
The scent of flowers was strong in the Civic Centre lobby as mourners filled the chairs and bleachers inside.
Photos of Emily, 12, a Grade 7 student at Westwood elementary school and Jonathan, 14, a Grade 9 student at Prince George secondary school shone out from one of the Civic Centre walls, on posters alongside pieces of their art, school projects and memorials from friends.
The outpouring of community support since the tragedy had Gene at a loss for words and has humbled the entire family.
"The moment we learned of the tragedy was horrific. We were almost in shock, we didn't know how to react," Eugene recalled. "And then from that moment on, the support, the letters, the flowers..."
The support didn't just come from Prince George. With the amount of media coverage the crash received, the family was receiving condolences from hundreds of kilometres away.
"We're actually quite overwhelmed by the distance. From this province, Alberta, Saskatchewan - we had family from places we didn't even know we had family and some we haven't had contact with for 50 years," Gene said. "The support from the community has been absolutely outstanding. I don't even know what to say. There's nothing in my vocabulary to express the feelings that I have."
