‘He's living on through her’: Windsor dad remembered by family after fatal weekend crash

It’s been a hard couple of days for a London family grieving the loss of a Windsor man, Kyle Paquette, who died Saturday during a car crash in Chatham-Kent.

For those close to Paquette, like his mother, it feels like time has stopped.

“It’s starting to hit home a lot more,” Cindy Zeringue said from her London home Tuesday morning.

Paquette, 27, was one of four people in a car that drove off St. Clair Parkway in Wallaceburg Saturday afternoon.

The vehicle entered the water and came to rest next to the creek. Three occupants survived but despite life-saving measures, Paquette died of his injuries.

Zeringue is coping by remembering the good times.

“He had struggles in life. But he never gave up. And he always tried and he always would put himself aside for other people,” Zeringue remembers. “No matter what the situation no matter what the cause, no matter what, he would do anything for anybody.”

Kyle Paquette, 27, died during a car crash in Chatham-Kent, Ont. (Courtesy: Cindy Zeringue)

Zeringue gave birth to Kyle and his identical twin brother Kody when she was 17 years old, saying they all grew up together.

“They gave me a run for my money, that's for sure,” she recalls with laughter.

Zeringue said the twin brothers shared an inseparable bond and were best buddies through good times and bad, like when their father was killed in a motorcycle crash in 2019.

“The part that I'm struggling with the most is for my son Kody. Because Kody is like, ‘Mom, this is like I'm reliving it again,’” Zeringue said.

Despite Kyle’s hard outer shell friends say he was a “softy” to the core, always quick with a joke to lighten the mood.

“He was so funny. He always made me laugh. He was such a goofball,” said Aspen Carter, the mother of their child.

Their lives changed forever five years ago with the birth of their daughter, Astraea.

“He just wanted to be a good dad. That's the only thing he really ever talked about, was being a good dad to his daughter,” said Zeringue.

Astraea is a spitting image of her father, a jokester like her dad.

Kyle Paquette, 27, and his daughter Astraea. (Courtesy: Cindy Zeringue)

Today, it’s a difficult reminder for family, but one that will become more welcome with time.

“I think that's like comforting for like Cindy and Kody and everyone else too, so that they can see, you know, he's living on through her,” said Carter.

A Go Fund Me has been started to help with funeral expenses and for five-year-old Astraea’s education fund.

“Kyle was a very misunderstood individual but if you took the time to get to know him you're one of the luckiest people because he was amazing,” said Zeringue.

Paquette’s funeral will be Dec. 14 in London.

Zeringue had a chance to say a final goodbye to her son Tuesday afternoon.

“I always believed in you, you never gave up,” she said about Paquette. “And even though you gave me headaches, because you gave me lots of them, you’ll always be my baby boy.”

“You'll be forever 27.”