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The third victim in a New Brunswick car crash that killed three local Canadian Armed Forces reservists was a Komoka native with plans to pursue a career in policing.
A funeral is planned later this week in Strathroy for Elijah MacGowan, 20. He, along with London natives Somebi Uzoegwu, 28, and Kevin Nkubito, 29, were killed in a single-vehicle crash that wasn’t military-related on July 14 in Sheffield, N.B., about 40 kilometres from CFB Gagetown.
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MacGowan was a Medway High School graduate. He’s described in his obituary as “a determined and ambitious young man” who planned to complete a degree at Western University and then pursue a career as a police officer.
Military service was also part of his plan. His obituary states that at the time of the crash, he was in New Brunswick while attending officer training with the Canadian Armed Forces.
He played hockey and soccer, but switched his interest to weight training. His motto, the death notice states, was: “Improvise, adapt, overcome.”
An online fundraiser set up in his memory had raised more than $30,000 as of Monday.
Per his obituary, visitation will be held Tuesday (1-3 p.m. and 6-8 p.m.) at Denning’s funeral home in Strathroy. The funeral service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at Bethel Baptist Church in Strathroy.
At the time of the crash, Oromocto RCMP said that three people died in the single-vehicle crash that happened shortly after 3 a.m. on Route 105. The vehicle was heading east when it swerved off the road and hit a tree, then caught on fire. The names of the deceased were not formally made public by the RCMP or the Canadian Armed Forces.
Uzoegwu was a member of the 1st Hussars regiment based in London and Sarnia. Both he and Nkubito played football as teenagers for London’s Catholic Central high school.
In a statement on social media, officials with the 1st Hussars said one member of its regiment and two members of the 4th Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment, a reserve infantry unit based in London and Stratford, were killed in the crash.
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