Skip to main content

Shanna Desmond is shown in a photo from her Facebook page. Ms. Desmond was a nurse at St. Martha’s Regional Hospital.The Canadian Press

Shanna Raylene Desmond was four years old when she told her family she wanted to be a nurse. As a child, she would pretend to take care of her "sick" cousins, covering them with blankets and healing them, mourners were told at her funeral on Thursday.

Ms. Desmond, 31, had only just realized her dream when her life was cut short last week by a tragedy in northeastern Nova Scotia.

Ms. Desmond's husband, Lionel Desmond, an Afghanistan war veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, shot and killed her, their 10-year-old daughter Aaliyah and his mother, 52-year-old Brenda Desmond, before turning the gun on himself inside the family home in the small community of Upper Big Tracadie on Jan. 3.

Read more: Ottawa ignored calls to probe veteran suicides despite troubling 2014 audit

Read more: Ottawa to pay for funerals of vet, family in Nova Scotia, but won't commit to probe

Read more: Remembering 31 Canadian Afghanistan war veterans lost to suicide

The triple-murder-suicide has raised a national discussion about whether military veterans have adequate mental health support and sparked a passionate discussion about the role domestic violence may have played.

At Thursday's funeral for Ms. Desmond and Aaliyah, more than 300 people stood or sat in chairs assembled in a church hall across the road from the Roman Catholic church where Mr. Desmond and his mother, Brenda, were remembered a day earlier.

Stephen Shepherd, a Jehovah's Witness, presided over the packed service, telling mourners that in times of such sadness, shock, frustration and anger, they need a steady hand on their shoulders – and answers.

Mr. Shepherd described Ms. Desmond as the rock of the family who was patient and determined, and had a bond with her outspoken young daughter.

"She was always willing to listen, always willing to help, could make you laugh when you needed it, truly a kind heart. She showed great concern of her siblings – Shonda and Sheldon. She's described as the big sister of the family, powerfully loved by those closest to her," Mr. Shepherd said.

Ms. Desmond was born in Ontario, but her family moved to Nova Scotia when she was in high school. Soon afterward, she met Mr. Desmond, who would later join the Canadian army.

Along the way, Ms. Desmond studied to be a hairdresser in Halifax, but she wasn't content with that. Eventually, she enrolled in a four-year nursing program at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S. She graduated in May of 2016, and landed a job as a registered nurse at St. Martha's Regional Hospital, also in Antigonish.

Mr. Shepherd told mourners Aaliyah Makayla Desmond, known by family as Li-Li, had recently celebrated her 10th birthday and taken up horseback riding. She wanted to be a veterinarian when she grew up, loved playing with her cousins and adored her pets: dog Penny G and cat Bentley. She liked trying new foods, especially candy, and like many little girls, loved to get dressed up, dance and sing.

"She had a thirst for life. She was excited to try new things, she had tons of questions and was very inquisitive about things," said Mr. Shepherd.

He said Aaliyah was also known for being a little bit sassy.

In the church hall, where a bingo board hung on the wall, there were flower arrangements in pink, red, yellow and white – some in the shape of hearts – and photos of Ms. Desmond and Aliyah with bright smiles. Among the mourners were some children and members of the navy and the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Earlier in the day, Ms. Desmond's aunt Catherine Hartling recalled how her niece and Brenda Desmond spent a great deal of time together, often driving with Aaliyah to various after-school programs.

"Everywhere they went, they went together," Ms. Hartling said. "[Shanna's] joke was that when they got in the car and had the two others with her, she would say, 'The motor and the transmission are with me now.' "

During the service, Mr. Shepherd alluded to Mr. Desmond's PTSD playing a key role in the deaths.

"Two lives ended much, much too soon. In such times of tragedy, we ask the question 'Why?' That question, since we've heard of the events, has been a burden in our minds," he said.

"The delicate nature of someone's mind, the past that they would've experienced, sickness and stress in an unstable moment can all come together to create the worst of circumstances."

The ceremony ended with two male family members exiting the hall carrying gold urns.

Mr. Desmond, 33, served two tours in Afghanistan over two years. Relatives and fellow infantrymen say the mental trauma he suffered there left him with post-traumatic stress disorder. A military source says he received treatment at the Joint Support Unit at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown in central New Brunswick.

However, relatives have insisted that Lionel Desmond did not get the help he needed after he was released from the military in July of 2015.

On Thursday, Ms. Hartling restated her assertion that the lack of treatment Mr. Desmond received for PTSD was the main reason he killed his family and himself.

"He was a sick man, but he did what he could," she said. "But the mental illness overcame him."

With a report from The Canadian Press

Interact with The Globe