Mourners in a small eastern Ontario town are remembering the “gentle giant” who died in a recent fire police believe was an act of arson.
On Aug. 3, the two-storey house in Greater Napanee that Walter Lasher called home caught fire. The 67-year-old was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital.
Police soon declared the fire suspicious and charged a 31-year-old man from nearby Picton with first-degree murder and charges related to arson.
“It’s just so sad to have such an innocent, friendly, simple guy that wouldn’t harm a fly be victim to such a horrendous crime,” said Lasher’s neighbour Karen Donaldson.
Donaldson was one of several people CBC spoke to on Monday after Lasher’s funeral.
They described a jovial man who they say would often do a jig on the street or enjoy a tea at Tim Hortons.
Lasher lived on the second floor of a transitional home, Donaldson and others said. They said multiple people lived in the building. Donaldson said she saw others flee the fire — but not Lasher.
She added that he had lived on John Street for about 40 years, but says he was renovicted from his first address within the past decade, and moved into 159 John St., where the fire occurred.
“He didn’t feel safe, but it was the only place he could afford,” Donaldson said.
An icon, a legend
Irene Prout, a friend of Lasher, first met him at the local Timmies about eight years ago and said he was a “gentle giant.”
“When he would talk to me about something, he kind of would say coarse words but he would check himself on it,” she said. “He’d say, ‘I’m bad, aren’t I, Irene?’ I’d say, ‘No, you’re not bad, Walter.'”
Prout said he was an icon in the community, and said she got goosebumps just talking about him.
“He always had a way about him that gave everybody a smile, and for those that didn’t know him, they would scowl. But I thought, oh well, it’s their loss [and it] is our gain,” she added with a warm laugh.
As she walked downtown, she carried two Tim Hortons travel mugs in her walker basket, which she said remind her of Lasher. She hopes for more answers out of the investigation.
“To have somebody die from something like that, it is so sad, you know, you hear of it from other places, but not from around where you live,” Prout said.
Jason Van Hooser said he and Lasher were longtime friends.
He was there the night paramedics tried to revive Lasher outside the burning building before taking him to the hospital. Van Hooser said when he heard there was a fire, he ran across town to try to save his friend.
“If I could of, I would have ran in, kick the door in and got him safely,” he said.
Van Hooser said the pair would hang out around town — whether it was at the Timmies or just on a bench chatting.
“I’ll walk down the street and [still] look for him,” he said.
