Nisbet’s family pays tribute

Heather Wright/The Independent

The family of Dane Nisbet says he loved his family and protected his friends fiercely.

The 20-year-old Sarnia man died in the shooting on the patio of the Lambton College bar, The Lion’s Den April 10 which also injured two of his friends. It was an act that devastated his family, according to local police, and shook the community.

The Nisbet family has grieved privately as tributes poured out online from the hockey teams he played for, public figures, local businesses and colleges across the province.

But the depth of the family’s grief is felt in Nisbet’s obituary.

The family wrote he was “the perfect son” and “perhaps his fearlessness played a part in this tragedy.”

They added; “The bullet that hit Dane’s chest pierced all our hearts. He will be remembered.”

The family writes Nisbet had an “outgoing nature and endless energy. He wanted to be a part of everything his buddies were doing, and they didn’t even care to do it if he wasn’t coming.

“Dane loved his family and his dog, Benny, deeply and protected his friends fiercely.”

The family added he loved competitive sports. Nisbet played hockey his life, including in the Junior hockey ranks with the Mooretown Flags and the North Middlesex Stars. “If you were lucky enough to have him on your hockey team, lacrosse team, or golf squad, your chances of winning increased greatly,” the family wrote in his obituary.

Online, his cousin, Sarah Rogers wrote; “You will be remembered to most as a talented hockey player, but to me you will always be one of the other innocent babies that grew up alongside my daughter in our grandma’s backyard. You were genuinely a great kid and you had such a future ahead of you… you didn’t deserve this at all.”

Nisbet’s funeral will be held Friday.

Four people have been charged in Nisbet’s murder. Three are in custody, one, Kyaw Chin Doe, 24, is still at large and wanted on charges of second-degree and attempted murder.