“We’ll miss him every day. And we’ll see him in everything we do,” said Brent and Jesse Bydevaate, of their brother, Joel.
A Taber family grieving the loss of Joel Bydevaate who died suddenly Wednesday night.
“A 28 year-old male was caught into a piece of farm equipment and was not breathing,” said Taber RCMP Sgt. Tom Cooke. “Members arrived on scene, EMS, and the fire department had to use the jaws of life to free the man from this piece of farm equipment and unfortunately he subdued to his injuries.”
It was like any other day on the farm. Joel, his father and brother had been out harvesting potatoes since early that morning.
Working hard in the midst of peak harvest season was one of the things Joel loved and his family says it wasn’t unusual to see him excited after a good day’s work, something Joel will be remembered for among many other things, like his charming personality.
“Joel was always a very happy, cheerful guy, always fun to be around, center of the party,” Just a guy everyone just always really enjoyed being around. Growing up I couldn’t of had a better older brother for a role model, he was always very responsible.”
A big loss for this family, now leaning on each other for support with the help of Taber residents.
The Bydevaate family says the community is reaching out to them by the hundreds offering support in any way they can.
“It’s impacted a lot of people in a lot of different ways, and it’s amazing to see how many people it’s impacted in such a short time,” said Pastor Brian Kuyper, of the Taber Christian Reformed Church. “A number of neighbors especially told them ‘don’t worry about what you have to do left, we’ll take care of it.'”
The community’s response is no surprise to the Bydevaate family who says while often quiet, Joel’s words held an impact for those around him.
“If he spoke, people knew it was relatively important,” said Jesse.
And his love of sports, particularity the Buffalo Bills, will be something the family holds on to.
“He actually has a bunch of university friends who go to a Bill’s game every year and he told me, this year, you’re coming. He’s got his group of friends who always goes,” said Brent.
“It’ll definitely be really different watching sports without him but we’ll definitely think of him every time we see his teams,” added Jesse.
A funeral for Joel will be held at the Taber Christian Reformed Church at two o’clock on Monday.
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