Châteauguay community remembers man who was hit and killed by truck

A growing memorial honours Matthew Lamarre, a homeless man beloved by the Châteauguay community, who was killed when a vehicle lost control.

The Châteauguay community on Montreal’s South Shore is mourning the death of a man who was hit by a truck last week.

A memorial for Matthew Lamarre has been set up in the parking lot where he was killed – a single chair and a shopping cart covered with flowers and candles.

Lamarre was homeless but well-known as someone who was gentle and friendly who brought joy to the community.

Melanie Filion remembers the first time she met him. She says she went up to him to hand him a $20 bill hoping to help him out, and the two ended up chatting for over two hours.

“And he’s the one who helped me out. He needed nothing,” she says.

“He was an amazing soul … You can tell how bright he was as a person.”

Lamarre had been living on the street and, like clockwork, would go for coffee every morning at the Tim Horton’s across from where he was killed.

Staff say he was a peaceful man, and his loss has been hard to take. Flowers have been set up by the cash in his honour.

Manager Tara Pattullo says there have been a lot of tears since Lamarre’s death as he had made friends with other regulars.

“We were all shocked. And we just kept saying, ‘It can’t be.’ So unreal,” she says, adding that everything happened so quickly the day he was hit.

“My guess is he was standing on a corner waiting to come and get his coffee by 6:30. So, he was standing there, wrong place at the wrong time.”

• READ MORE: Man dead after being hit by vehicle in Châteauguay, Que.

Now, the memorial outside the restaurant serves as a constant reminder of what’s now missing inside – and Pattulo says it warms her heart to know he was so loved.

“Tears just come to my eyes when I think about it ... And I see it every day,” says Tim Horton’s employee Lorraine Williams. “He didn’t deserve it … He was loved by everybody; this was his home.”

Melody Webster works at the Wendy’s nearby where Lamarre also spent his time and says coming into work hasn’t been the same since. She describes Lamarre as a social butterfly and says people still ask where he went.

“It’s been hard not seeing Matthew around. It doesn’t feel like home coming to work anymore. Like you don’t see him smiling or take the same food or wish him to have a good day, you know?” she says.

The cause of the accident that led to Lamarre’s death is still under investigation. Police say no arrests have been made.

Fillion says while tragic, it’s fitting that Lamarre’s death has brought so many people together.

“I find there’s something amazing in the impact that it has on the community. I can see police officers just passing by. They’re not saying, ‘Hey, you can’t leave this here.’ This [shopping cart] has been here for two weeks — Super C is not taking it back, you know, like that’s respect.”