The family, friends, and coworkers of fallen police officer Const. Donald Doucet gathered at Black Road and McNabb Street on Saturday for the tenth and last annual memorial service to be held in his honour.
In 2006, Doucet was killed while on duty at that intersection after a drunk driver in a minivan collided with his police vehicle.
A stone memorial was installed on the southeast corner of the intersection and every year since, a service has been held there on May 14 in his honour.
However, this year is planned to be the last of these services.
“Instead of somber memories, it’s time to focus on the good things,” said Const. Henry Jin, a very close friend of Doucet who was also the first police officer to respond to the scene of the 2006 accident.
Jin, who acts as a liaison between Sault Ste. Marie Police Services and Doucet’s family, said: “After speaking to the family and getting a feeling around the police station, we all felt it was time to end.”
Doucet’s father Louis Doucet agreed that it was time to put the painful memories away, especially for his grandchildren including Donald Doucet’s children Courtney and Jocelyne.
Louis keeps the memory of his son Donald, or Don, alive by making a daily trip out to a shed the two built together.
Inside he has a special area set up with a photo of his son and a candle.
Everyday he goes there, lights the candle, and takes a minute to talk to his son.
“This is my way of being with him still,” said Louis Doucet.
Inside the shed he’s dedicated a section of the wall to Don’s memory and has hung up old newspaper articles, photos, drawings, and his son’s watch.
Louis Doucet also keeps a garden in his son’s honour as well as a glass cabinet inside his house filled with keepsakes, including Don’s police hat.
Louis Doucet said one of the difficult things about the last ten years has been how Jeanette Niganobe, the driver of the minivan that hit Donald Doucette’s police car, never showed remorse to him.
“What hurts me the most is she didn’t have any regrets. She could have called me or my daughter-in-law and said she was sorry, but no.”
Louis said when he goes to maintain the memorial site at McNabb Street and Black Road people will honk at him in support.
“It’s nice that they recognize the memorial. There are a lot of good people in this city,” he said.
Donald Doucet’s widow, Debbie Doucet, said that finally after ten years she has made significant progress in her healing.
Instead of just crying when she thinks of her late husband, she can now focus on all the joy they had.
“I think it’s a good time to move on now. Even though we heal we never forget the person,” she said.
Shortly after Don passed away, Debbie’s children also moved out of the home just because at 17 and 20 it was that time.
“I went from a family of four to just myself in our home. It was a huge transition. For the first two years you just exist and go through the motions. It’s surreal. You’re just trying to grasp on to anything that’s familiar,” she said.
Debbie has gone through a long healing process and these days she tries to help others by sharing her experiences when she can.
She said it’s been a long road but she is finally starting to “see the light” again.
“I had the best husband. We had a really beautiful and genuine true partnership. When Don died, a big part of me did too and I had to go into through a long molting period before I could grow into the beautiful person that I finally feel like now,” said Debbie.
Donald Doucet remains the only Sault Ste. Marie police officer to have died on duty.
Even though this was the last annual memorial service in Donald Doucet's honor, his legacy continues on.
The memorial site at Black Road and McNabb Street will continue to exist, there is a Don Doucet Correctional Facility, the former Root River Bridge was named after him and a plaque was added there, hockey and golf tournaments are held in his honour, and every year the Don Doucet Memorial Scholarship gives financial assistance to students entering post-secondary law programs.