Two Ontario women, from Orillia and Timmins, are dead after that Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 people on board.
The Orillia woman, a ‘bright and shining star,’ was killed in Sunday’s tragic Ethiopia Airlines crash
Angela Rehhorn, a 2017 graduate of Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, had returned to her hometown to work with the Couchiching Conservancy as a participant in the Canadian Wildlife Federation’s Canadian Conservation Corps (CCC).
“From the moment she walked into our office, she was just such a bright shining star,” said Dorthea Hangaard, project manager for the Conservancy, who worked closely with Rehhorn.
“She was confident and smart and you could tell she loved what she did,” Hangaard told OrilliaMatters.
The CCC posted a statement about Rehhorn’s death on their website this evening:
It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the sudden and tragic passing of the Canadian Wildlife Federation’s Canadian Conservation Corps participant, Angela Rehhorn.
Angela was chosen to participate in the United Nations Environmental Assembly in Nairobi as part of the United Nations Association of Canada’s, Canada Service Corps Program, and was on her way there when the plane crashed early Sunday.
Angela was part of CCC Group 5, "The Mountain Goats."
She had recently completed a Bsc at Dalhousie University and was thrilled to be part of the CCC program. Her experience took her to Alberta where she went backpacking in Kananaskis this past fall and then to Pacific Rim National Park in BC for her field training.
At the time of her passing, Angela had just completed volunteering her time to do species surveys and was developing a citizen science project on bat conservation. She was especially interested in the marine environment and looked forward to expanding her experience in this area.
Being selected to attend this UN Assembly is a testament to the tremendous contributions and value Angela and her fellow CCC cohorts bring to the future of conservation.
“Angela shared the excitement and optimism of volunteering and working to improve our world. Her life is an inspiration to us all,” said Rick Bates, CEO of the Canadian Wildlife Federation.
Rehhorn had been volunteering to do species surveys and was developing a citizen project on bat conservation.
"Our hearts are broken," said Hangaard. "It's just devastating."
Meanwhile a Timmins woman, Stephanie Lacroix, 25, was also one of the people on board.
According to the Globe and Mail, she was a project coordinator with the United Nations Association in Canada.
"A Franco-Ontarian from Timmins, Ms. Lacroix wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a school teacher but an internship with the NGO Stepping Stones International changed her outlook. She had worked in Malawi for World University Service of Canada," reads the story.
A family member also recently shared the news on Facebook.
"My beautiful niece Stephanie, a young beautiful servant leader, employed by the United Nations and living her dream of helping people after completing her degree in International Studies, perished on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302," wrote Gilles Lamarche Dc in a public Facebook post.
Also, six members of an Ontario family, spanning three generations, are being remembered as wonderful, loving people after they were identified as being among the 18 Canadians who were killed in a devastating plane crash in Ethiopia.
The family from Brampton, including 13-year-old Anushka Dixit and her 14-year-old sister Ashka, were travelling on the doomed Ethiopian jetliner when it crashed moments after takeoff from Addis Ababa on Sunday, a relative said.
The girls and their mother, 37-year-old Kosha Vaidya, father 45-year-old Prerit Dixit, and grandparents 71-year-old Pannagesh Vaidya and 63-year-old Hansini Vaidya, were on their way to Kenya for a safari, said Manant Vaidya, Kosha's brother.
With files from Dave Dawson, Maija Hoggett and Canadian Press.
