B.C. soldier killed in CFB Wainwright fire found ‘purpose, family’ in military, mother says at Vancouver funeral

Pte. Aidan Goulding could always make anyone laugh, his mother Sonia Monk said to a room filled with the 23-year-old’s family, friends and colleagues who gathered to honour him on Sunday morning at the military’s armoury location in Vancouver.

Goulding was killed in a grass fire at the Canadian Armed Forces base in Wainwright, Alta. on Oct. 17, along with three other soldiers. He had been based in Edmonton and was serving in the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry at the time.

“Aidan was never still. He loved life and wanted to experience all of it. He was fearless, sometimes more fearless than I would have preferred. If there was a safe, sensible way to do something, Aidan usually found a more exhilarating way,” Monk said to a sorrow-filled room.

Goulding’s remains were returned to B.C. on Nov. 4.

“Military, those in law enforcement, fire and emergency services, coast guard and protective services — they have acknowledged and accepted that the cost of defending the greater good can include exposure to great dangers, very serious injuries, and even death,” said retired Capt. Gerard Barabash, who officiated the funeral.

Goulding loved to play soccer when he was younger, his mother highlighted, but found a sense of purpose when he joined the army.

“He was the happiest I had ever seen him. It gave him a sense of purpose, family and where he truly felt home,” Monk said.

The service was complete with pipe players and eulogies from Goulding’s mother, aunt, brother and closest friends who were fellow members of the military.

Brother Wylder Goulding shared memories of the two getting into “all kinds of mischief” as children together, with his mother saying the two were always best friends.

“He was my best friend, my worst enemy, my harshest critic and my fiercest competitor,” Wylder said.

Other friends shared that the one thing they’ll miss the most was Goulding’s sense of humour. His mother agreed.

“Whenever I was disciplining him, he would start to laugh or he would start to say something funny. I could never properly discipline him,” Monk recalled. “That’s something that our family is going to miss. Nothing’s going to replace that.”

Before joining the military, Goulding was working in auto mechanics, his mother said, but wanted to do more for other people.

“I think through tragedy or hardships, he would always say things like, ‘We’ll move forward,’ so I think that’s what he was sort of saying to me today, actually, with the sun shining right into my eyes,” Monk told reporters after the service, clutching the Canadian flag laying over Goulding’s casket.

The hardship for the family, however is still one to get through.

“I’m quite tired. I haven’t eaten a lot. I haven’t slept a lot, but all the support and seeing everybody here today is remarkable,” Monk said.