'Everyone just loved him': Man killed after being hit by snowplow remembered

A Chilliwack man killed after being struck by a snowplow is being remembered as a loving father and husband.

“He was an absolutely devoted father. He loved his little boy so much. He was the light of his life,” said Meagan McManus, a longtime friend of Anthony Hetzel, who she identified as the victim of the accident.

“He was the glue that held our friends together,” she said. “Everyone just loved him.”

Hetzel, 31, was killed in Abbotsford while on his way to work early Thursday morning on North Parallel Road. He had left his car after it got stuck in a snowy ditch and was hit by a pick up truck equipped with a snowplow around 6 a.m.

McManus said she had been close friends with Hetzel since high school.

“He was always the light of the room. His smile and his laugh, he just always made it such a fun time for everybody,” she said.

McManus said Hetzel leaves behind his wife Ashley and son Fox, who is just one-and-a-half years old.

“She is such a strong, brave woman, she is holding it together so well for her little boy,” McManus said of Hetzel’s wife.

McManus said she and others will work hard to ensure Hetzel’s son knows the kind of dad he had.

“Even when he doesn’t have anything to give, he still gives, you know. He was always that person who makes sure you have everything you needed,” a tearful McManus said.

“That’s going to be our responsibility, to help make sure Fox knows what his daddy was like, and we are going to make sure we are there for them.”

McMannus said Hetzel, an electrician, was heading to a work training session when the accident happened.

McMannus said her friend was the sole income earner for his family, so she set up a fundraising campaign to assist his widow and son.

“We’re going to take it from here and make sure that his family is OK, because he always made sure that mine was as well,” she said.

Police believe inclement weather and snow were likely contributing factors in the crash, which happened when it was still dark out. Abbotsford police also said the driver of the vehicle involved remained at scene and is co-operating with police.

The investigation is ongoing.