The communities of Barriere and surrounding areas are rallying to support their fire chief, Ashley Wohlgemuth and her two children, Morgan, 13 and Mason, 12 following the sudden loss of their beloved husband and father, Chris, while away on holiday in Mexico recently.
Chris Wohlgemuth, who died of a heart attack, will be fondly remembered as a loving husband, father and dedicated community volunteer and business owner of the popular local restaurant, Sam’s Pizza and Rib House in Barriere just off Highway 5.
Three fundraising efforts in the community have been organized to support Barriere’s fire chief and children upon the family’s return from Mexico, in order to assist the family in covering additional expenses incurred so unexpectedly due to this tragic loss.
The Barriere Fire Department, Barriere Firefighter Association (BFA), Chu Chua Fire Department and family friends, Jen and Shelby Nickel have been overwhelmed with the response from the community and surrounding areas in support of the family.
The BFA is hosting a silent auction and fundraiser event on Feb. 4 from 3 to 10 p.m. at the Barriere Legion.
“Ash is a huge part of our department and our community,” Scott Abel, president of the BFA said. “With so many asking our department what they could do to help Ashley and the kids, we came up with the idea of doing this silent auction open house as a fundraiser to assist the family with any additional, unexpected costs so she won’t have to worry too much about the financial end of things right now and take time to adapt to everything that has happened. The fundraiser idea is a way to help the family and also a way the community can show their support for her as their fire chief.”
Abel said there are so many people reaching out with such good intentions and feeling as though they wanted to help ease the burden for the family.
Family friends, Jen and Shelby Nickel have set up an online campaign which as grown to more than $10,000. Jen describes both Ashley and Chris as being “community helpers.”
“Ashley isn’t someone who ever asks for help, she is the one always stepping forward and giving the help,” said Nickel.
“Ashley was the first person that befriended our family when we first moved to Barriere and our kids have attended Neqweyqwelsten school at Simpcw First Nation since pre-school and both of the Wohlgemuth kids are in a class with our kids now. Throughout the years, Ashley, from her work position as Barriere fire chief, has responded to innumerable tragic situations, saving lives and has been there for our family and the community at our darkest hours. I think it’s just a small way that we can give back to help Ashley relieve the burden of this great impact in their family’s lives as she has done the same for many people over the years. This will be a difficult adjustment for her with two adolescent kids. We love them, their family and their kids. We all feel helpless.”
The Nickels shared their own memory of Chris, Ashley’s husband having been part of many of their own family celebrations and also for the whole community as being the proprietor of Sam’s Pizza as the chef and “the guy who always stuck his head out through the window to make sure everyone’s dinner was okay.”
Another close family friend, Jennifer Amos from Barriere shared her own feelings about the couple.
“Ashley and Chris both are two of the kindest, most considerate people I have ever known. She is always the first one there for anyone, anytime, whether that is giving someone a ride to the store, making sure a person in need has a meal if they can’t afford one and being ready to help wherever there is a need. These fundraisers are the community’s way of saying, we have your back too Ashley.”
A celebration of life for Chris will be held on Jan. 27 at 1 p.m. at the North Thompson Fall Fair Hall with a luncheon to follow.
The Chu Chua Fire Department at Simpcw First Nation has also been fundraising for the family.
“We reached out to Mike Wiegele’s Heli Ski Resort in Blue River to see if they would be willing to donate at a reduced rate but instead they offered us two trips for two people all inclusive which includes one night’s accommodation, gourmet meals, helicopter lifts, ski rentals, professional guiding and unlimited vertical valued at $4,170 per package which is a donation of over $8,000. We started with the first trip as a raffle selling tickets and we have already reached 200 entries and will soon be closing the first raffle in this two-series raffle. This effort is being done to ease the burden on fire chief Wohlgemuth’s family during these trying times,” said fire chief Ron Lampreau explained,
If you are interested in attending the silent auction in Barriere or donating items you can contact Mary Elizabeth Mackenzie at 250-571-3750. The event will be an open house from 3 to 10 p.m. on Feb. 4 at the Barriere Legion.
To participate in the Chu Chua Fire Department raffle for the trip to Mike Wiegele’s Heli Resort for two contact Melanie Stutt at 778-257-0231 or by email at Melanie.stutt@simpcw.com, or Ron Lampreau Jr at 250-319-4415 or by email at Fire.chief@simpcw.com.
In November Mayor Ward Stamer presented Chief Ashley Wohlgemuth with an award from the District of Barriere commemorating her 25-year milestone of volunteer service with the Barriere Volunteer Fire Department (BVFD).
Wohlgemuth began her volunteer service with the BVFD as a youth in the junior membership program, and has served as fire chief since 2018.