To the extended family of Jessica Lloyd,
My most sincere condolences on the untimely loss of Jessica.
A vibrant and warm lady, with a strong sense of humour and close community and family connections, whose death tragically came too soon.
Hundreds mourn murder victim
Belleville woman remembered as fun-filled country girlJessica Lloyd, whose murder has left Bay of Quinte residents in shock and resulted in a top military officer’s arrest one week ago, was living the life of her dreams, 300 mourners heard Saturday.
The 27-year-old with rich, dark hair and green eyes, was living alone in a rural house on Hwy. 37 near the Village of Tweed, which her mom, Roxanne, and late navy dad, Warren “Eb” Lloyd, bought 19 years ago.
Described as a major fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Lloyd told friends if she ever had a son she’d like to name him Tie, after the team’s former on-ice enforcer Tie Domi.
Vibrant, outgoing, strong and with a mind of her own, fond of uttering witty one-liners, she enjoyed entertaining friends there and, “by all accounts, she loved country living,” Rev. Cathy Paul, of St. Mark’s United Church in nearby Cannifton, said in the packed John R. Bush Funeral Home.
In particular, she was a fan this time of year, “when the frost turned the countryside into a winter wonderland,” the preacher said during the 40-minute service.
Described as a major fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Lloyd told friends if she ever had a son she’d like to name him Tie, after the team’s former on-ice enforcer Tie Domi.
Raised in Ottawa on a military base until moving to Tweed at age 8, she studied business administration and human resources, then worked in the Sears store in Belleville.
In recent years, Lloyd commuted daily to her job with a transportation company in Napanee, east of the Hastings County seat, in her black Pontiac Grand Prix, which she called her “Black Ninja”.
Her body was found in a rural area near Tweed last Monday, one day after the arrest in Ottawa of Col. Russell Williams, commander of 8 Wing at CFB Trenton, west of Belleville.
Williams, 46, who used his stepfather’s name Sovka while living in Scarborough and attending school and university in Toronto in the 1970s and 1980s, is charged with the first-degree murder of Lloyd and Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, 38, a flight steward at his base.
Comeau’s body was found last November in her home in Brighton, a village west of Trenton.
The officer, whose wife lives in the west end of Ottawa, is also accused of forcibly confining, sexually assaulting and taking photos
last September of two women during breakins at their homes in Tweed. He is to appear via a video feed with the Belleville court from a nearby lockup on Thursday.Lloyd’s murder caused her family, friends and the community “deep sadness,” Rev. Paul said during the service, which was closed to the media. “Words at a time like this seem completely inadequate.”
The young woman’s disappearance 11 days before her body was located prompted a great deal of community support, with people offering to help police search, posters quickly put up seeking public help and outpourings of sympathy for her family, who live in the Belleville area.
After her murder was revealed, the case attracted worldwide media attention due to the high profile of Williams, who is under investigation by the OPP and Belleville Police as a serial sex stalker.
Sarah Lloyd, her voice sometimes a whisper, spoke of her numerous family get-togethers with her cousin Jessica.
“She loved one-liners,” delivered with “those green eyes that cast a glance,” she said, adding “she made a huge impact on us … our families went through so much together.
“She will be forever remembered,” Sarah promised, as her cousin’s widowed mom and brother, Andy, looked on, surrounded by relatives and friends.
Speaking of his cousin’s rich sense of humour, Sarah’s brother, John, said, “Jessica had enough love in her to touch everyone.
“She loved kids,” he said, “and was always determined, with a mind of her own.”
OPP, Belleville Police and several military officers formed an honour guard at the back of the funeral home as the family left.
Lloyd’s body was cremated.
Two mourners placed lit candles in glass containers on a nearby sidewalk as the funeral procession left, heralded by a piper playing Amazing Grace.
IAN ROBERTSON,
TORONTO SUN— With files from Jason Miller, QMI Agency
Your are in my thoughts at this difficult time,
Tie
