Grand Forks resident Roxanne Marie Priede named Silver Cross Mother
By Erin Perkins
Honour and love for one’s country are values the Priede family of Grand Forks holds very dear.
So when Roxanne Priede was asked to serve as the National Memorial Silver Cross Mother by the Royal Canadian Legion from November 11, 2012 to November 11, 2013, she didn’t have to think long to know that her answer would be an enthusiastic “yes”.
“It means the world to me – it is an honour to represent all the mothers of Canada and my son,” said Roxanne during a private interview with The Boundary Sentinel this past weekend.
To be Canada’s Silver Cross Mother is a great honour, but an honour no mother of a military person ever really wants to aspire to because it means you have experienced one of the world’s greatest losses – the death of your child.
As the Silver Cross Mother, Priede will represent every mother who has experienced the same loss she has and the same pride she has for the meaningful work her son, Master Corporal Darrell Priede, did by serving his country with the Canadian military.
Master Corporal Darrell Priede was 30 years old when he was serving as a Military Image Technician with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Regional Command (South) headquartered at Kandahar Airfield. He was killed when the Chinook helicopter he was a passenger in crashed in the Kajaki Helmand Province of Afghanistan on May 30, 2007. He was serving in a military operation against the Taliban. He was the 56th soldier to be killed in Afghanistan of what would be 151.
His wife, Angela Priede, and he had only just celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary.
After her son died, Roxanne got to know many of the other mothers who have lost their children while serving in the military – many of them from the same war Darrell served in.
I will be thinking of every single one of them as I lay the wreath. As a mother I know the pain they’ve gone through and the loss and pride that stands behind those women … One of the hardest days of my life is to go to a Remembrance Day ceremony and be a part of this remembrance of a lost soldier but it is also one of the proudest days to remember every soldier who stands on the front lines for our country.
Darrell was full of that same Canadian pride. He once told his mother there was nothing better than wearing the Canadian flag on his shoulder while he served his country. Darrell served in the Canadian military for 12 years, during which time he went to Bosnia twice before his trip to Afghanistan.
“We were always waiting for him to come home,” said Roxanne. “And he was always happy to come home to Grand Forks and the country he grew up in.”
The Priedes moved to Greenwood from Ontario in 1979 when their eldest son, Darrell, was two years old. He attended Greenwood Elementary School before the family moved to Grand Forks so that he could attend Grand Forks Secondary School where he graduated in 1995. He joined the Canadian Forces in 1996 where he served in the army as a gunner in the Royal Canadian Artillery and two tours in Bosnia. He later transferred to the Air Force where he served as a military photographer, a job he enjoyed very much, said Roxanne.
After his death Darrell was honoured by our community when the black train bridge was restored for the Trans Canada Trail and named in his honour in 2009. The plaque at the site features a photograph that Darrell took.
During her time in Ottawa, Roxanne and her husband John will visit the Seven Books of Remembrance held in the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill where their son’s name will be forever listed. Roxanne will receive a gold enameled Legion crest at a luncheon held in her honour on Saturday, November 10 at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in Ottawa.
During the Remembrance Day ceremonies the following day, Roxanne will lay a wreath at the National War Memorial and stand alongside Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Governor General David Lloyd Johnston as they preside over the ceremonies.
“I think I’m more nervous about the interviews than anything else,” said Roxanne, who faces several televised interviews over the weekend.
Roxanne hopes to keep the spirit of our national Remembrance Day ceremonies alive and well for the next generation so they realize how present war still is. Remembrance Day is not just about the old wars and old veterans but about the modern ones too, she said.
Everyone should be shaking a soldiers hand and thanking them. They deserve our thanks. They are an important part of our country and we have one of the best military organizations in the world.
The National Remembrance Day ceremonies where Roxanne will be can be viewed live on CBC this Sunday, November 11. Roxanne is the eighth British Columbian mother to serve as the Silver Cross Mother.
