UXBRIDGE, Ont. – Friends and family said their goodbyes Saturday to Adam Wood, the local teacher killed in a school shooting in Saskatchewan last month.
Wood, 35, was among the four victims killed in a Jan. 22 shooting spree in La Loche, SK, where he began his teaching career in September. A 17-year old gunman is charged in the killing of Wood and teaching aide Marie Janvier at La Loche Community School after allegedly shooting Dayne Fontaine, 17, and Drayden Fontaine, 13 at a nearby residence.
READ MORE: La Loche school shooting: what we know about the victims
Mourners attended a ceremony at St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church in Leaskdale, Ont. Saturday afternoon.
After his death, friends remembered Wood as a “deeply religious man” and “one of the friendliest and funniest” people they knew.
His family later released a passionate statement encouraging Canadians to use the tragedy not to point fingers but to “fuel change” in the economically depressed community plagued by high suicide rates.
READ MORE: ‘Listen to the voices of La Loche,’: Ontario victim’s family calls for social change
“Rather than looking for someone to blame, or coming up with outsider opinions of reasons why this occurred, we must stop and listen to the voices of La Loche,” it said.
The family also encouraged donations to the newly created Fuel for Change charitable foundation to improve social conditions in La Loche.