Family still trying to pay for burial costs two months after cyclist killed on Windsor street
The family of Ken McEldowney has organized a fundraiser for this Sunday to help pay for a headstone and burial fees.
“He didn't have life insurance,” said step-daughter Crystal Miotto. “We don't really have the funds ourselves to continue paying so much out of pocket.”
McEldowney was struck by a vehicle on Wyandotte Street West near Caron Avenue just before midnight on Friday, March 25. The 58-year-old died the next day in hospital.
His family members told CTV News Friday, McEldowney had previously been hit by vehicles while riding his bike around Windsor. They assumed he could survive his injuries this time, but they said hospital personnel told them the injuries were unsurvivable.
“If you needed anything, you call him (McEldowney) and he would come and help,” said one of McEldowney’s nieces. “My little one always says ‘Mommy, I miss Uncle Kenny, I miss Uncle Kenny.’ That breaks my heart.”
The family said the community response to an online fundraiser, organized in the days after McEldowney’s death, was “heart-warming.”
The community raised $6,000 for the funeral expenses, but now the family is trying to come up with the $3,400 to pay for his burial and a headstone.
The event is Sunday, May 22 between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. at The Moose Lodge at 777 Tecumseh Road West in Windsor.
Tickets are $25 for adults, and $15 for kids under age 13. Kids under five are free.
The family plans to have more than 30 raffle prizes.
Two of them, a bike and a scooter, were donated by Bike Windsor-Essex.
“It was awful to hear about this tragedy,” said executive director Lori Newton. “You just feel for the family. You feel for the individual who's lost their (life). That shouldn't be happening on our streets.”
Police have charged Kelsey Barkovsky, 28, in connection with McEldowney’s death.
Her charges include impaired driving causing death and leaving the scene of an accident.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Some emergency rooms across Canada shutting down amid staff shortages
Hospitals overwhelmed by the pandemic’s onslaught are still facing a number of challenges, causing unprecedented wait times in emergency rooms across the country.

'Incompetence is incalculable': Airport frustrations sour Canadians' summer travel plans
CTVNews.ca asked Canadians to share their travel horror stories as cancelled flights, delays and lost luggage throw a wrench in Canadians' summer travel plans, due in part to staffing shortages at Canadian airports. Some report sleeping at airports and others say it took days to get to or from a destination.
Russian ship carrying Ukrainian grain detained by Turkish customs, ambassador says
Turkish customs authorities have detained a Russian cargo ship carrying grain which Ukraine says is stolen, Ukraine's ambassador to Turkey said on Sunday.
Russia claims capture of pivotal city in eastern Ukraine
Russia's defence minister said Russian forces took control Sunday of the last major Ukrainian-held city in Ukraine's Luhansk province, bringing Moscow closer to its stated goal of seizing all of Ukraine's Donbas region.
Gunmen killed in Saanich bank shootout identified as twin brothers
Twin brothers in their early 20s were responsible for the shooting that injured numerous police officers at a bank in Saanich, B.C., earlier this week, RCMP alleged Saturday.
Calgary's new 'Museum of Failure' aims to spark creativity
It's been said no one's success is complete without failure, but a new international exhibit in Calgary is proving that even some of the most talented innovators had some of the worst ideas for consumers.
'Ungrading': How one Ontario teacher is changing her approach to report cards
An Ontario high school teacher plans to continue with an alternative method of grading her students after an experiment last semester in which students proposed a grade and had to justify it with examples of their work.
Heavy rains, floods prompt evacuations of Sydney suburbs
Thousands of residents in Sydney suburbs were told to evacuate their homes on Sunday after heavy rains caused floodwaters to rise and rivers to overflow in what authorities called life-threatening emergencies.
Children among 77 kept in Nigeria church for rapture, police say
Police in Nigeria have freed at least 77 people who were kept in a church basement by pastors who preached to them about Christian believers ascending to heaven with the second coming of Jesus Christ, authorities said Sunday.