HAVERKO, Samara

July 3, 2003 — May 26, 2021

Samara Haverko, 17, died unexpectedly on May 26, 2021, due to a serious accident. She leaves behind a broken-hearted family: Her parents, Dawn Dionne, Mike Haverko, Leah Ratto and Chris Jefferies, her grandparents Richard Dionne and Renee Ratto, her siblings Paige Beaudry and Hunter Haverko, and her friends who were always at the heart of her, and were truly an extension to their family. Samara loved being a sister and loved her siblings fiercely. Samara had also left behind her beloved sassy old cat Alice, whom she took for sunset drives, and slept with every night of her life. Samara loved to read, and always did so curled up with Alice on her lap.

Samara had a loyal close-knit group of friends, and a one of a kind relationship with her mom (who they referred to each other as Lorelei and Lorelei). Those she loved, she did so fiercely and without constraint.

Samara was a KSS Owl, having been part of the KSS daycare for young parents as an infant.  As a youth, she was part of the 4H program and loved working with horses.  Always goal-driven, she worked two jobs throughout secondary school helping to pay for a Marine Biology class trip to Hawaii in her grade 11 year, a trip of a lifetime that she got to take with her best friend Emma. Samara also worked to save for university, which she hoped to attend UBC Okanagan this upcoming January for the Bachelor of Arts program. She wanted to become a writer.

Samara set a goal to complete high school early, which she accomplished having graduated in January, but not before discovering a passion for writing, this was found in two of her favorite classes, philosophy and journalism, also having been part of the staff of the KSS online newspaper.  A gentle and kind soul with an independent spirit, she had truly begun to discover her potential.

The following is a quote from an essay that Samara wrote for her journalism class.  The essay recalls when Samara was 6 years old and travelled the Pow Wow trail with her grandparents, who she called Mama and Papa. She writes about sitting under the stars with her late Mama, Penny Dionne, who teaches her about the stars. “Our loved ones who are no longer with us, live with the stars and are always watching us and protecting us from danger when the sun no longer guides us…. I always search for the darkest areas (of the sky), for that is where the stars shine the brightest.”

She was loved, and was taken too soon.

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