THUNDER BAY — A Thunder Bay woman who lost her only child in a snowmobiling collision 22 years ago is grateful to a construction company for taking pains to protect her son's memorial on Highway 61.
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart," Shirley Karasiewicz said after learning the EllisDon Corporation will ensure the cross she erected isn't disturbed during construction of the new Thunder Bay Correctional Complex.
The cross is located near the entrance to the construction site, as that's where 26-year-old Robert Karasiewicz was fatally injured in January 2000.
Karasiewicz has maintained the memorial ever since.
An EllisDon superintendent recently instructed that fencing be placed around it while the new jail is being built over the next four years.
Senior project superintendent Christian Correa said "We did this because it is the right thing to do. Someone has been taking care of this memorial for a very long time, and if this was my family, I would have wanted the same."
When Karasiewicz heard about this, she said she was overwhelmed with gratitude.
On Tuesday, she had an opportunity to meet Correa to express her appreciation in person.
"It's amazing that they would do this. I wanted to just hug him," she said.
