Death of ice skater on Lac-St-Louis a shock to friends, family

Coroner looking into skater's death The death of a 58-year-old West Island man who died while skating on Lac St. Louis on Christmas day will be subject to investigation.

The family and friends of a Montreal man who died while ice-skating on Lac-St-Louis early on Christmas Eve said they were devastated by the news.

Don Etienne was in terrific physical shape at 58-years-old, a man who enjoyed playing hockey and waterskiing and didn’t smoke or have other bad habits, said his sister Carol Etienne.

“Don was so healthy, he was a skater, it’s not like he didn’t know how to fall,” she said. “He played hockey, he knew how to fall. It’s something that’s very, very bizarre.”

David Pelletier, a longtime friend of Etienne’s, said his death showed the importance of appreciating life.

“It’s something you just never know. These are things we would joke about while we were skating, that we had such great lives, but the one thing he used to say was he would regret not seeing his daughters grow up,” he said.

Etienne went skating on Lac-St-Louis on the afternoon of Dec. 24. The next day, his niece and nephew were bringing his two daughters, age 11 and 13, to his house for a Christmas Day brunch but found no sign of him. They called police, who found Etienne’s body on the ice covering the lake.

Police said they don’t believe there was any foul play in Etienne’s death and the investigation has been passed onto the coroner’s office.