ANTIGONISH, N.S. — The yearbook describes an “unmistakable laugh” and someone who remembered birthdays, enjoyed camping and going on trips with the Dr. John Hugh Gillis Regional High School band. She played bass clarinet.
Heidi Burkholder, class of 89.
“You remember all of your students to some extent, but when they’re in the band it’s a bond that goes farther than teacher-student,” said retired music teacher Brent Bannerman. “She was an honest person, and had a great laugh.”
She grew up in Antigonish County, 14 kilometers from town, and in her early years attended Maryvale Elementary School not far from her family’s home at the time.
“She was kind. A good person,” said Mike Stewart, a former classmate. “She had a radiance about her.”
She was a 23-year veteran with the RCMP. For three of those years she rode her horse, Kito, in the RCMP Musical Ride.
“She was just spectacular,” said retired RCMP Sgt. Jerry Mayo. “Phenomenal with kids, with the elderly. Probably one of the best I’ve ever worked with.”
To five of her closest friends, it came as a surprise when she turned toward the RCMP.
“But it made total sense in hindsight,” they wrote in a group email. “She always had a strong sense of right and wrong and had the strength of mind and character to enforce it.”
On April 19, Const. Heidi Stevenson died protecting those she served from a perpetrator dressed like a police officer.
“Two children have lost their mother, and a husband has lost his wife,” the commanding officer for the RCMP in Nova Scotia, Lee Bergerman, told reporters on Sunday. “Parents have lost their daughter, and countless others lost an incredible friend and colleague.”
Today the flag in front of Antigonish Town Hall flies at half-mast in memory of 22 people who were lost, including Const. Heidi Stevenson who once called this place home.
