Nicole Boyer, who spent some key years in St. Davids, along with her daughters Zoe and Pyper and their family labrador Jasper, are being mourned after a deadly crash on Highway 11 in northern Ontario on Dec. 21 claimed their lives.
The Ontario Provincial Police reported that around 12:30 a. m., officers arrived at the scene of a collision between a tractor-trailer and a pickup truck on Highway 11 in Opasatika Township, about 1,000 kilometres north of Niagara-on-the-Lake by road.
There were four people inside the pickup truck. Three passengers – Nicole, 41, Zoe, 15, and Pyper, 12 – died at the scene. The driver, Jason Boyer, 41 and Nicole’s husband, was rushed to hospital but his injuries aren’t life-threatening. The tractor-trailer driver wasn’t hurt.
Authorities are still working to determine what caused the crash.
In an email sent Jan. 6 responding to questions about whether weather might have played a role, acting OPP Sgt. Martin Thibault told The Lake Report there haven’t been any new details since the first media release and the investigation is ongoing. The Kapuskasing detachment of Ontario Provincial Police is handling it.
The police are also coordinating with the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario plus specialized traffic and collision investigators from OPP.
Nicole met Jason back when they were in Grade 8 at St. Davids Public School; years later he popped the question right there on that same schoolyard where their friendship started.
They’d been married for 18 years before moving up north so they could live closer to nature and raise their kids surrounded by animals and outdoor life.
The online obituary paints Nicole as someone full of “joie de vivre,” with contagious laughter and a big love for nature.
“She didn’t just live life, she was all in,” it said. “Whole heart.”
She earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from York University then worked as coordinator of emergency care profile at the Red Cross – organizing deployment for about 1,600 emergency workers during COVID-19 efforts and natural disasters.
Twelve-year-old Pyper loved animals and dreamed about working with them someday; she was described as a “ray of sunshine” who did really well at figure skating and team sports.
Her gentle happy spirit stood out – except when it came to eating certain veggies,” said the obituary.
“And no amount of cajoling or bribery or threats made a bit of difference. When she made up her mind, that was it.”
Zoe was fifteen – called “a natural leader” who volunteered plenty at her community library. She was “generous to a fault,” recently treating cousins even though she’d been saving carefully for an upcoming school trip to Greece set for 2027-a trip she talked about all the time with excitement.
“Pyper was her closest friend, and biggest supporter – sibling rivalry and all,” the obituary added.
The family asked that instead of flowers people donate in their memory to Second Chance Pet Network, Red Cross or Make-A-Wish.
If anyone saw what happened or has dashcam footage from near there around that time please call Kapuskasing OPP at 1-888-310-1122. You can also send anonymous tips through Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or online at ontariocrimestoppers. ca.
paigeseburn@niagaranow. com
