Toronto van victims include grandmother, avid volunteer

TORONTO - People who died when a van plowed down a Toronto sidewalk came from all walks of life, and from several countries. They included a grandmother who was an avid sports fan, and a woman who volunteered to build houses in the Dominican Republic.

Several victims have not been identified. Seneca College said one of its female students was killed, but declined to identify her, citing privacy reasons. Two South Koreans were among the dead, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing government officials.

A look at the victims who have been identified:

ANNE MARIE D'AMICO

D'Amico, 30, worked at Invesco, an investment management firm near the attack. Toronto City Councilor Cesar Palacio, who knows D'Amico's family, identified her as a victim.

D'Amico volunteered at Canada-based international humanitarian charity Live Different. She helped build houses in the Dominican Republic in 2015 and 2017, according to Dave Hamilton, the charity's manager of school partnerships.

She was "always up for a challenge and really wanted to help people out," he said.

Brodie MacDonald, a friend of D'Amico's, posted a video on Facebook of her playing baseball in the Dominican Republic and wrote that her love of the game is what brought them close.

"I am so angry at the world today and I am so sorry that this happened to you and as tears roll down my face thinking about the incredible person that you were, please know that you made a difference in so many peoples' lives," he wrote.

D'Amico also volunteered with the nonprofit Tennis Canada association, working at the Rogers Cup tournament since the age of 12. She was voted volunteer of the year in 2016.

DOROTHY SEWELL

Sewell, 80, was a grandmother who was an avid sports fan, said her grandson, Elwood Delaney.

Delaney, of Kamloops in British Columbia, posted on Facebook that he had to tell his three children and his wife "that they will no longer get to talk to Nan" on birthdays or holidays.

He said his grandmother almost had as much love for the Blue Jays baseball team and the Maple Leafs hockey team "as she did for her family."

"You will always be loved and your love for sports will always be with me while I cheer with you," he wrote on Facebook. "Go Toronto Go. Love you Nan."

Two of Sewell's neighbors, Paul and Eweline Matusiewicz, choked back tears at a shrine of flowers on Yonge Street, where they were paying their respects.

They had found out Sewell was among the victims just a half-hour before arriving at the memorial.

"She was just the sweetest soul," Paul Matusiewicz said.

RENUKA AMARASINGHE

Amarasinghe, 45, lived in a rented home with her 7-year-old son, Diyon.

She was a Canadian citizen who came to the country from Horana, Sri Lanka. She had lived in Toronto for about 15 years, said Ahangama Rathanasiri Thero, chief monk at the Mahavihara Buddhist Meditation Centre.

Amarasinghe worked at school cafeterias around the city and was working in the area the day of the van attack, friend Thilina Pelendage said.

She was known for her joking nature, and for never forgetting people's birthdays.

"She always had such a big heart," Pelendage said.

Amarasinghe came to the temple frequently, sometimes helping arrange religious ceremonies, Thero said.

"She was a very kind and helpful lady," he said. "She was a good mother."

Amarasinghe was at the temple the day before she died, attending a Sunday school celebration.

Amarasinghe had no family in Toronto. The temple planned to make funeral arrangements and to collect money for Diyon's future.

Another family in Toronto's Sri Lankan community with whom Amarasinghe once lived planned to care for the boy, Pelendage said.

MUNAIR NAJJAR

Najjar was a citizen of Jordan who was in Toronto visiting family, according to state-run news agency Petra.

Najjar, who is in his 70s, had only been in Canada for a couple of weeks, according to Harry Malawi, a family friend and president of the Jordanian Canadian Society.

The family is in the midst of a three-day mourning period, he said.

"They are secluded right now and they ask everybody to accept their privacy," he said. "We stand together, we want to help the family heal ... physically, psychologically, emotionally and financially, they need all the help they can get."

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Associated Press writers Charmaine Noronha and Tammy Webber in Toronto; Blake Nicholson in Bismarck, North Dakota; Amanda Lee Myers in Los Angeles; and Ivan Moreno in Milwaukee contributed to this report.