Noel Johansen is mourning his wife, Jen Darbellay, after her death at a music festival in Vancouver.
The actor, who has starred in Hallmark Channel projects like Home for Christmas Day and Unleashing Mr. Darcy, eulogized Darbellay on Monday at a vigil for the victims of the SUV collision that killed 11 people at a Filipino cultural festival celebrating Lapu Lapu Day on Saturday.
“What you see here is an injury that means nothing to me because what’s inside — my heart is broken, because my wife passed away behind me at the incident,” Johansen said, acknowledging his own injury at the festival that led to him using crutches at the vigil, which was captured on video by Global News Canada.
The actor, who has also appeared in episodes of Fargo and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, stated that he could sense his wife’s love with every embrace after her death. “Everyone who hugged me since then, I felt her,” he said.
Johansen went on to remember his wife’s humility and impact. “The one thing I wanted to tell you, if you never knew Jennifer Darbellay, my wife: she never celebrated herself in her life,” he said. “She never thought of herself. She thought of herself as small in terms of the reach. And I can tell you, she was larger than life for any of you who know her. So don’t be small in life. Be big, reach out, and reach out as a human being with everything you have and please remember us that went through this.”
Johansen’s friend and business partner, Michael Daingerfield Hall, also paid tribute to Darbellay as he established a GoFundMe campaign for the actor’s family. “She was an incredibly thoughtful, warm, caring, smart, stylish, artistic woman,” he wrote. “A gifted painter, a selfless mother, and a loving wife. She gave the best hugs, was always there to listen without judgement, and had the sweetest voice.”
Bettina Strauss/Hallmark Channel/Everett
Noel Johansen, Nikki DeLoach, and Lisa Durupt in the Hallmark Channel’s ‘Reunited at Christmas’
The Vancouver Police announced in a social media post that multiple people died after a driver drove a vehicle into a crowd at a Lapu Lapu street festival on Saturday night, and that the driver was in police custody. In a follow-up post, the VPD identified the suspect as 30-year-old Vancouver resident Kai-Ji Adam Lo, and he had been charged with eight counts of second-degree murder.
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Vancouver Police Interim Chief Steve Rai said in a press conference on Sunday that the suspect had “a significant history of interactions with police and health care professionals related to mental health,” and that the department could “say with confidence that the evidence in this case does not lead us to believe this was an act of terrorism.”
After the VPD reported that over two dozen additional bystanders were injured in the incident, Sergeant Steve Addison announced Thursday that 13 people remain hospitalized after sustaining injuries at the event, with four in critical condition and two in serious condition.
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