Eric Vance's small community came together to say goodbye to the young mother on Saturday.
Hundreds gathered in a Dunrobin-area church for the hit-and-run victim's funeral, including Ottawa's police chief and her five-year old twins.
"It just doesn't make sense," said family friend Barbara Campbell. "Erin has been a part of the community for years, I knew her from school because my two girls went to school with her and I was her Brownie leader, her Pathfinder leader."
Vance was killed on Sunday when she was hit by a vehicle in Constance Bay as she walked home from a St. Patrick's Day party.
Jeremy Rees, 23, was at the same party and has been charged with impaired driving, criminal negligence causing death and leaving the scene of an accident.
"There was so much for her to do, so much of her to live for . . . but the timing is not up to us," said the priest during the funeral mass.
Vance was a barn manager at the Quarry Park Equestrian Facility in Dunrobin with a goal of becoming a police officer.
"We wanted to show support for the family today in their grief and sorrow as they go through these very difficult times," said Ottawa police chief Charles Bordeleau.
"My heart goes out to the kids, they're going to spend the rest of their lives without their mother," said Ottawa councillor Eli El-Chantiry, also at the funeral.
A trust fund has been set up for Vance's twins Liam and Caleb, who are being cared for by their grandparents.
There is also a fundraiser scheduled for April 21 at the Carp Arena.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Karen Soloman
