South Okanagan

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Alison Jeanine Terbasket

The Lower Similkameen Indian Band is mourning the loss of one of its members this week.

Jeanine Terbasket, 44, the natural resource governance liaison for the band, died Saturday when the car she was driving slid off Highway 3 and flipped over in the Similkameen River, east of Princeton.

Two of Terbasket’s five sisters Kathy Terbasket, 46, and Wendy Terbasket, 40, were injured in the crash, as was a cousin Tammy Peterson. The four family members were returning home from a seven day vacation in the Dominican Republic.
The funeral service for Terbasket will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Cawston Hall in Cawston.

“To me she went on her own terms, she came back from a beautiful holiday and she was traveling,” said Kathy Terbasket.

The three women who survived the terrible accident, were rescued in what turned out to be a group effort by several in the community on

Saturday.

Among the first on the scene was Constable Mike Leiding with Keremeos RCMP traffic services. As Leiding drove his car from Princeton to Keremeos around 7:30 a.m., he came upon a sight he will never forget.

By the side of the road was Kathy Terbasket, who was obviously in distress, waving her arms frantically. When he stopped at the scene and looked down the 25 foot river bank he realized there was another woman, Peterson, pulling Wendy Terbasket, who suffered a broken arm and pelvis, from the

water.

Arriving on the scene at the same time in his snowplough truck was Dave Groff with Argo Road Maintenance in Princeton.
Together the two men went down the bank to pull out the woman who was still in the water.

They then ventured out into the icy waters of the river to try save Terbasket, who was still trapped in the car.

“I was standing in about five feet of cold freezing water trying to pull her out, but her side of the car was crushed,” said Groff.

Others driving by the accident scene also pitched in. A truck driver provided a chain to pull the car out of the water and Groff’s foreman provided

aid.

Groff was glad he and others were able to help the three survivors, but sorry they were unable to save Terbasket.

“It would have been a better story if we could have rescued her,” he said. “It was hands down the worst thing I have ever seen, absolutely awful.”

On Tuesday, as family members prepared for her service in the band office in Keremeos, they remembered a woman who was full of life, generous, and wanted to make a difference in the lives of her own people.

“The fondest memory of my sister is we grew up on a ranch in Chopaka, and as a girl she was prim and proper,” said Janet Terbasket, one of Terbasket’s sisters. “But recently she decided she was going to get into farming. It’s so weird because my sister is not a farmer. In large part it was to make sure her family was always looked after.”

As a girl, Terbasket went to Cawston Elementary School and later graduated from Keremeos Secondary School.
Always ambitious, she earned a bachelor’s degree in aboriginal studies and political science at a Saskatchewan university and then graduated from UBC law school.

Photo: Contributed - Facebook

Alison Jeanine Terbasket

She came home for the next four years and was mentored by her aunts in her traditional culture and history, which prepared her for her work as a liaison.

“After that time her purpose in life was to use her education and traditional knowledge to make our community a better place to live in,” said Janet Terbasket.

As an adult, she loved to travel, and visited many different countries worldwide.

The surviving sisters described the rescuers as heroes.

“They did everything possible to get my sister who was still in the car then,” said Janet Terbasket. “But unfortunately the creator has his own plans, and this was his plan for my sister.”