Heidi Veit’s smile was infectious, friends say.
The mother, whose estranged husband is charged with murder in her death, would be turning 48 on Saturday, and her friends are marking the occasion with a concert to benefit her two sons.
“They don’t have the support or the help that they once had with Heidi,” friend Rick Stoesz said. “I think this would really help them out.”
Veit’s body was found March 27 in a rural area near Wilkie, a west-central Saskatchewan town. Her estranged husband Wesley Veit was arrested two days later.
“The community was hit hard,” Danielle Chapman, another friend, said. “It’s something huge to happen in a small town.”
Heidi worked as an education assistant at McLurg High School in Wilkie and formerly as a secretary at the town office. She was bubbly and outgoing, according to friends.
“She was a huge part of the community, our community in Wilkie,” Chapman said.
The community is planning to put any money raised for her sons — 22-year-old Cole and 15-year-old Zachary — into a trust. More than $15,000 had been raised as of Saturday morning.
“We’re looking forward to the future, taking care of the boys,” Chapman said. “They are Heidi through and through — strong, strong, strong boys.”
The benefit concert is scheduled for Saturday night at O’Brian’s Event Centre.
--- based on a report by Mark Villani
