Funeral Set For Monday For Gaudreau Brothers
Photo credit: CBC
The funeral for John and Matthew Gaudreau has been scheduled for Monday at a church in suburban Philadelphia while the driver charged with killing them remains in jail awaiting his next court appearance.
The memorial service for the Gaudreau brothers is set to take place at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Media, Pa. The NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets, for whom John Gaudreau played and was known around the sport as "Johnny Hockey," said the team will stream the service on their website.
The Gaudreau brothers died last week when they were struck and killed by a suspected drunken driver while riding their bicycles in their home state of New Jersey on the eve of their sister Katie's wedding.
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Sean M. Higgins appeared virtually at his first pretrial hearing Thursday. The judge postponed the hearing to Sept. 13 to allow attorneys more time to prepare.
Higgins, 43, is being held at a Salem County jail. He is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle.
Attorneys Matthew Portella and Richard Klineburger III said Higgins had hired them to represent him.
"This is a tragedy involving a great deal of emotion and impacting many individuals," they said in a statement. "It is too early in the stages of the legal process to make any out of court statements."
Countless members of the hockey community from Columbus to South Jersey to Boston College, where the Gaudreaus played, are expected to join family and friends for the funeral. Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell said the entire team would be there, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is also planning to be in attendance.
Rev. Eric J. Banecker in a letter to parents said school at St. Mary Magdalen would be closed Monday because of the service.
"This will be an extraordinarily large funeral for two young men, one of whom was a professional hockey player," Banecker wrote in the letter that was posted on social media. "The fact is we cannot ensure a safe school day and dismissal given the expected crowd. I ask you to consider this inconvenience a small sacrifice that will help ease the pain just a bit of John and Matthew's parents, wives, children, siblings, relatives and friends."
| POLL | ||
6 SEPTEMBRE | 28 ANSWERS Funeral Set For Monday For Gaudreau Brothers Even thought he spent most of his playing career in Calgary, Do you think Columbus should retire Johnny's number 13 in memory? | ||
| YES | 22 | 78.6 % |
| NO | 6 | 21.4 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
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