Langdon pulls together for Brooklyn

Miriam Ostermann
Times Associate Editor

 

When four-year-old Brooklyn visited her Langdon preschool on Dec. 9, her teachers noticed she was clingy and cuddly.
Confiding in the owner of the Stepping Stones Preschool, Lori Caron-Kluppelberg, the perceptive youngster informed her that her father had been crying because her mother hadn’t come home the night before.
While the preschool made sure Brooklyn’s day was as normal as possible, Rob Hamilton explained to his daughter that same night that her mother won’t be coming home at all.
Bonita Hamilton lost her life suddenly on Dec. 8 when her vehicle veered off the road and into a property. Since then the community of Langdon has already raised nearly $30,000 through the Bonita Hamilton (Gobeil) Go Fund Me page, to supplement some of Bonita’s income and help the family – Rob, Brooklyn, and Bonita’s step-daughter Sam, with some of the financial burden.
Wanting to help further, the Stepping Stones Preschool now set up a trust fund for Brooklyn to ensure her education in the future.
“We thought the entire town could take part and feel like they’ve done something while but not intrude on the family,” Caron-Kluppelberg said. “The entire town is just completely broken up about it. The Go Fund Me, that’s for dad directly to help with finances … (this) is specifically for Brooklyn and her education. I’d like to continue adding as a preschool to this fund yearly until she’s 16. As long as we’re in business we’re going to continue to donate to it.”
According to Caron-Kluppelberg, the trust fund will remain open while the family resides in Langdon. If the family does leave the community, she added, the account would be closed and the money given to the family.
Forty-year-old Bonita had left work early on Dec. 8 when she didn’t feel well.
While family and friends continue to wonder what caused the incident, Langdon is also mourning the loss of a contributing member of their community.
“She was a terrific lady, and would have befriended anyone,” said Kristie Mackie who has known Bonita for three years and took part in the same book club. “She was kind and very smart and someone who was easy to talk to. She will be more than missed and our hearts are broken for her family. The community has already rallied around the family, but the trust fund is just another way to continue to support the family, and in particular Brooklyn.”
Mackie added that Bonita was always lending a hand, whether by joining the parent committee, playing a large part in organizing the Christmas party at the preschool, or volunteering in the community to organize major fundraising events.
“She was a key organizer in our parent committee, she was a volunteer, and she just helped put together our children’s Christmas party less than a week before this happened,” Caron-Kluppelberg said. “She was a huge contributor towards our preschool. She’s going to be very missed for sure.”
An account has been set up at the Mountain View Credit Union in Langdon, under the name Brooklyn.