VANCOUVER, B.C. — Whistler and Vancouver are reeling from the death of one of their own, Wendy Ladner-Beaudry. A runner, as well as an avid skier, she was murdered in a large park in Vancouver, a city that until recently was known for its gentle ways. She was 53.

Photos in the Vancouver Sun show a pretty young woman skiing with glee, her pigtails flying in the wind. Her husband, Michael Beaudry, who writes a column for Whistler’s Pique Newsmagazine, tells more about her younger life.

While waiting tables in Whistler in her younger days, she lived in a cabin outside town. After her shift, she hustled across a lake, pushing a canoe - in case the ice broke. Once at the cabin she had to bang pots, to make sure any bears left before she entered.

In Vancouver, she started a program to get low-income women into sports so as to get their children also involved. This seems to have been part of a broader demeanor in her life. She was described by one woman as “an encourager.”