Wives of fallen Moncton Mounties reveal personal touches to monument

Working with sculptor Morgan MacDonald was a labour of love unlike any other for Nadine Larche and her three daughters.

She cherishes the time spent working with the Newfoundland artist to create a statue to honour the life of her late husband, fallen Moncton Mountie Doug Larche, and his comrades Consts. Dave Ross, and Fabrice Gevaudan.

“It’s like Doug is coming home,” Nadine said Thursday.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's like Doug is coming home," Nadine said Thursday.

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Having Nadine and her girls travel to the foundry to add their personal touch to the monument was equally special for MacDonald himself.

“Just having them there at the foundry to participate in the creation of this monument that has been such an honour and such a privilege,” MacDonald said.

The monument features Const. Larche’s footprints long with running shoes and medals, as running was a big part of his life. There are also three small ballet slippers at the base of the statue to represent their daughters love of dance.

“For me, I think the most important thing in creating this was making the experience as special as possible for not only the three women, but the families too cause the kids, they are going to grow up and start to reflect on how who their fathers were,” MacDonald said.

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Rachael Ross, widow of Const. Dave Ross, also had the opportunity to put her own touch on the monument in honour of the man she says has left a permanent imprint on her heart.

“There’s his footprints and mine, and the boys kind of walk in his in his shadow behind him. And he was also a ‘Papa Bear,’ so there’s a bear paw print in the shadow of his foot,” Rachael said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "There's his footprints and mine, and the boys kind of walk in his in his shadow behind him. And he was also a 'Papa Bear,' so there's a bear paw print in the shadow of his foot," Rachael said.

“Also, Danny the dog he had been working with, we had his paw prints as though he had been standing beside Dave.”

Those precious and very personal details will be revealed to the public when the monument is unveiled on Saturday, in a park where the families can go to reflect on their three heroes.

“It was really meaningful for me to have a place for my kids, who didn’t don’t really know their dad because they were too young,” Rachael said.