Many of you will have heard of the tragic accident on Saturday that took the life of our friend and colleague, Trish Fraser.  Trish was killed while cycling at Mt Stewart, training for the ride around Lake Taupo.

The opportunity to farewell our beloved friend, fellow homeschooling mum, and sister in Christ will be this Thursday 18th, 1pm at Life Church, 590 Featherston Street, Palmerston North.

Any offers of help at the funeral (food or help in the kitchen) would be much appreciated and can be directed to Mandy.

Your prayers for Trish’s husband, Joe, their children and their extended family would be appreciated.

Grieving husband taking on Taupo race

The widower of a Longburn mother of four who died while training for the Lake Taupo cycle challenge will ride the race in her honour.

Joe Fraser said he planned to ride with two race numbers – his own and the one that would have been worn by his wife, Patricia Anne Veronica Fraser, known as Trish.

“I’ll probably be crying all the way,” he said.

Mrs Fraser, 34, and a friend were cycling single file on State Highway 3 near Mt Stewart on Saturday, when she was hit by a car travelling in the same direction.

Police are investigating the crash.

Mr Fraser, a Christian, told the Manawatu Standard last night he did not have any malice towards the driver, but he hoped the Fraser family’s pain would be understood.

Mr and Mrs Fraser have four home-schooled children – Jakob, 13, Eylish, 10, Lily-Rose, 7, and Paityn, 5.

Jakob, who turned 13 today, was to be flown to Australia as a surprise for his birthday, but the trip had to be cancelled, Mr Fraser said.

The funeral for Mrs Fraser will be at the Life Church in Palmerston North on Thursday.

Mr Fraser said he would probably continue to home-school their children because he wanted to honour his wife, who had done most of the teaching.

“We discussed that if something like this was to happen the kids would still be our number one priority.”

Mrs Fraser had been involved in organising events such as athletics for home-schooled children. Mr Fraser, who works for the parents of his wife, said he would probably cut back his hours.

The crash occurred two weeks before the 160km cycle challenge.

Mrs Fraser’s death was the second recent blow to the family, after Mr Fraser’s father, Ian, was diagnosed with cancer.

Mr Fraser described his wife as “magnetic”.

“She pulled us all together and she could discern if something was wrong. She knew how to ask hard questions,” he said.

“Trish loved to laugh, drink coffee and eat good food, surrounded by good people.

“She was an amazing mum.”

GRANT MILLER AND JONATHON HOWE – Manawatu Standard