‘Her heart never failed’: Loved ones honor memory of good Samaritan killed in crash
Before she arrived to help a bicyclist late Tuesday along Dove Road, where she was struck and killed by a passing vehicle, loved ones of Candy Trumbull said she’d already touched so many lives.
“She didn’t hesitate to reach out to everybody,” sister Donna Trumbull said. "She would give you the shirt on her back if it was the last thing she had.”
That was a common theme among members of their extended family as they arrived for funeral services this weekend to honor Candy.
Formerly a home health care provider and worker at HP Pelzer, the 40-year-old single mother lived in Port Huron Township. She was kind but a stickler, siblings said — unafraid, according to brother Milan Trumbull, to “tell you how it was.”
And even amid an emerging illness in recent months that made it difficult for her to work, or at times, even walk, family members said she still went out of her way to nurture others and take care of her two sons, John “JonJon” and Charlie Priess, as well as other local kids, right up until her final moments.
A 30-year-old Marysville man driving through the 3700 block of Dove struck a 56-year-old Fort Gratiot man bicycling in the area before calling 911 at around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. Candy Trumbull, who lived nearby, came out to the scene before she was struck by another passing driver who didn’t stop.
Both the bicyclist and Trumbull were pronounced dead at the scene. A suspect was reportedly in custody the next day.
Since then, a GoFundMe has been founded to help with funeral costs and the living expenses of Trumbull’s children. By early Friday, about $1,200 of a $7,500 goal had been raised.
Mother of 2 lived for her sons, family says
Several of Trumbull's family members tearfully talked through the experience of losing her during an interview with the Times Herald on Thursday.
Eighteen-year-old son Charlie briefly joined in discussing her memory before leaving the room, while 13-year-old JonJon said over the phone, “She was the best mom to me. She loved taking care of me.”
Candy’s former husband Guy Priess, who was with JonJon, chimed in, “She had a heart of gold. She would help anybody. That girl, her heart never failed for anybody.”
It felt as though Candy had saved her sons, family said. Donna Trumbull said JonJon was “standing next to her while she was trying to render aid to the bicyclist."
The 13-year-old began to return to the house, she said, but “as soon as he turned around, she got hit.”
Milan Trumbull said the distinction put how much she lived for her children into focus.
“Her arms were always wrapped around them. It didn’t matter where they went. The boys were right there next to her,” he said. “They never left her side. She always carried a picture in her car.”
As Donna held up the photo of Candy with a younger JonJon and Charlie on Thursday, Milan added, “You can see the smile on that little boy’s face. That’s how he remembers his mom.”
Candy Trumbull reunited siblings after separation in childhood
As they mourned Trumbull Thursday, the conversation among several of her siblings quickly switched in and out of laughter as they remembered moments of their childhood.
Trumbull had 11 siblings, according to her obituary. She was born somewhere in the middle — and was particularly small, Milan recalled, at 4 pounds, 8 ounces. They weren’t allowed to touch her. After Candy’s hair had grown, sister Tamie Gregersen jokingly recalled that she cut some of it off, passing down the mischief to Candy when Donna was born.
“I’d be darned if she didn’t do that to Donna. But I got in trouble for it, though,” Gregersen said. “Because Donna was laying in her crib, and I handed Candy the scissors.”
Early on, the then six siblings lived outside of Allegan, an area heavy in farms, and much of the childhood mischief continued. They got into trouble with the family up the hill, and they jumped in the creek when they weren’t supposed to, bringing “the big carp home.” “Hey, we sat on that thing. They made us sit on it!” Milan interjected.
And Candy giggled her way through it all.
“No matter how mad you got, she’d always find that one word to say and your anger would be gone,” brother Terry French said.
Donna and Milan Trumbull said they eventually went into foster care and were later adopted with Candy.
True to form, Gregersen said it was Candy who reunited them. She recalled getting the call years later.
“I think the most important thing to me is we were all born in one family, and we were separated,” she said. “But if it weren’t for Candy, we’d never have been back. She was the first one to find me.”
In addition to her sons and siblings, Candy Trumbull is survived by her parents, adoptive father, and many other aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins.
A visitation was set for 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday at Pollock-Randall Funeral Home, followed by a funeral service at 4 p.m.
Family members said they were leaving the services open to the public, adding it’s what Candy would’ve wanted.
“We don't know who she’s touched,” Milan Trumbull said.
Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Loved ones honor memory of good Samaritan killed in Tuesday auto crash
