The partner of the late Capt. Jenn Casey and two close friends of hers were in Kamloops today to mark the one-year anniversary of her tragic passing.
Capt. Scott Boyd, a former member of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, says Casey worked around-the-clock on Operation Inspiration, the Snowbirds cross-country tour that had been launched three weeks prior to the crash aimed at bringing people optimism during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Boyd says Casey worked 16-hour days calling her a one-person army on social media connecting with as many Canadians as she could.
“Op Inspiration kind of started with the tragedies going on on the East Coast at the time,” Boyd said. “There was the shooting in Nova Scotia, there was the Cyclone accident which affected obviously friends of mine and of Jenn’s at the time as well. And then it just kind of turned into a way to connect with all Canadians.”
“It wasn’t really until we started doing the flights across the country, and started seeing the support and all the pictures and things like that come in, that we really kind of understood the impact of what we were doing.”
The Burnaby, B.C. native says Casey was his partner and his best friend, adding the city of Kamloops will always be a special place for him and Snowbirds team.
“This has been the longest year of my life, but it also feels like just yesterday,” Boyd added.
Joining Boyd was Casey’s childhood friend Morgan Muise and her roommate in university, Dan McDonald. They were all at Kamloops City Hall as Mayor Ken Christian announced plans for a permanent memorial to the fallen Snowbird at the soon-to-be-built Fulton Field Park.
McDonald, pictured above hugging Muise, called Capt. Casey the “quintessential Canadian.” He says the memorial to his late friend was “very touching”.
“Everything you guys hear is true. She was always smiling, she loved this country very much. She was always proud of where she came from and we’re always very grateful that we got to have some part in her life,” he told reporters.
“It’s tragic to lose a friend. Obviously, to lose one so publicly, and having to share that grief with the nation is, in a way it’s nice, but it’s also been a very bizarre thing to go through so publicly.”
But McDonald adds there has been only support and positivity about the fallen Snowbird as he, and many others, grieve, calling it the best way to remember a friend.
“We didn’t know Captain Jennifer Casey,” McDonald said. “For us, she was Jenn.”
Casey’s German Shepherd, Daenerys (named after the Dragon Queen in Game of Thrones), was also at Kamloops council chambers, making the trip over from Halifax to mark the occasion.
“The city here will always be really special to all three of us and to Jenn’s family,” Boyd added.
Morgan Muise, Capt. Casey’s childhood friend and Dan McDonald, her roommate in university, embrace at #Kamloops City Hall after today’s announcement. @RadioNLNews pic.twitter.com/ixSqO8xORt
— Victor Mario Kaisar (@supermario_47) May 17, 2021
