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O'Rourke, Grace (1977-1987)
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1987 Dec 20 p. 11
Birth date: 1977
text of obituary:
COMMUNITY NEWS
. . .
A very unusual tragedy struck this community Nov. 11. A Pentecostal rally was held on Mrs. Florence Isaac's land, with about 14 people, mostly children, participating. (Mrs. Isaac is a widow.) Pastor and Mrs. O'Rourke and family from High Prairie were also in attendance. One day the children had played in the adjoining woods and had found a bear den with no sign of a bear around. Late in the afternoon of Nov. 11, Grace O'Rourke, 10, asked one of the local adults if she could play again at the bear den. She was told, "Why not, there are no bears." Sitting down at the edge of the hole and dangling her legs into the hole, she was attacked by a bear that must have decided to use that hole for hibernation the night before. Grace was killed before she could be rescued. One of the rescuers, her father, put his leg in the den to make the bear let go of his daughter. Not until rescuers got a pole into the bear's mouth could they free the father and daughter. Wayne Klassen was called to bring a rifle and he shot the bear. The next morning, when two RCMP police and a wildlife officer were investigating, the wildlife officer said that the fatal attack was not the fault of the bear. Pastor O'Rourke is in the Miseroodia [sic Misericordia] Hospital in northwest Edmonton. the bear den is about 300 yards from the Isaac home.
