'There is a void now': Friends rally to help partner of deceased St. Thomas, Ont. trucker

Loved ones remember a dear friend Friends and family honour the memory of Cam Wilcox, a trucker who died in a collision in Lambton County in August. CTV London's Brent Lale reports.

Before speaking with CTV News London, Marj Kuhn walked her dog and “had a big cry to let it all out.”

It was the first time she spoke publicly about her partner of 10 years, Cam Wilcox, who was killed in a crash in Brooke-Alvinston, Ont. on Aug. 23.

The 67-year-old from St. Thomas, Ont. passed away after his transport truck collided with an SUV, sending six people to hospital in rural Lambton County.

“It still feels surreal because there has been no closure yet,” says Kuhn. “I can’t take care of anything because he didn’t have a will, and I have to get a lawyer. It’s just hard.”

Lambton County OPP told CTV News London Monday that the investigation is continuing, and no charges have been laid. They had no more information to “keep the integrity of the investigation.”

The man with the “big personality” was the “life of the party” according to Kuhn and friends.

“He loved to smile, laugh and sing,” says Kuhn.

“Whether they were good songs or bad ones, he was a good singer. He did the Titanic song really well, because he loved Celine Dion. But he also had a one that was ‘Kerplunk, it sunk, it’s a hunk of junk’ and he'd sing and everyone just loved it,” she adds.

When he wasn’t singing or golfing, he loved to split his time between Ollee’s Bar and Eatery and the Upper Deck Sports Bar and Grill (UDSBG).

At The Deck, his bar stool sits empty, and a favourite beer is on the bar in his memory.

“When he shows up he would say, ‘I'm here,’” says Rick Goddeeris, owner of UDSBG.

Goddeeris adds, “Then he would walk down, sit at the stool and pop his bottle like he usually does. If it was really quiet in here, Cam would get up and start singing opera, and believe it or not, he was actually really good. He was like family here and we miss him.”

At the bar, his good friend Jim Pay says it’s been a tough two weeks without his buddy.

“There is a void now,” says Pay. “His humor is unbelievable, he was a great singer, and a comic.”

It’s been two weeks since his death, and Kuhn is still waiting for answers. She has heard a couple of theories on what happened that morning.

“One was that the car didn't stop and went in front of his big rig,” says Kuhn.

She adds, “The other one was that they were coming towards him on his side of the road, and he swerved to miss them. He ended up jackknifing the truck and he was alive at the scene, but by the time they got him to the hospital, he was dead. Either a paramedic or police officer told him on the way to the hospital that he was a ‘hero’ so he died knowing he was a hero.”

A pair of fundraisers have been set up for Kuhn as Wilcox was the family’s only source of income.

One of them is online, and the other is in-person on Sept. 9 at the Back Alley Bar and Grill in St. Thomas.

“We’ve come up [with] some pretty good pictures of Cam so far,” says Pay. “We’ll have them at the Back Alley Friday night, and I’m looking forward to that, and sharing stories about Cam.”