Tearful mourners gather for funeral of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau after drunk driving tragedy
Hockey-playing brothers Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau were laid to rest Monday the way they lived — side by side — as it was revealed that both of their widows are actually pregnant.
“God really did draft the best two boys,’’ Matty’s weeping pregnant widow, Madeline, said at the church in Media, Pa., where mourners included NHL players such as Pittsburgh Penguin and ex-Ranger Kevin Hayes and league Commish Gary Bettman.
Johnny’s widow Meredith also eulogized the pair — while announcing she is pregnant, too, nine weeks along with the couple’s third child.
The widows spoke in front of their husbands’ caskets, which were placed facing each other in the packed St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church.
“They slept in the same room up until college, and neither of them wanted that to change,” Madeline Gaudreau said.
“John took care of Matty, and Matty took care of John. It brings me comfort to know they are still together forever, as they always were.”
But she said that in the end, their deaths have left her “trapped in a nightmare I can’t wake up from.
“Matthew was so excited to welcome Tripp into this world,” she said of the couple’s unborn son. “Tripp will know how much his father loved him.”
She then turned to her sister-in-law Meredith.
“There is one person in this world who knows what I am feeling, it’s you,” she said. “And for that, I am sorry.”
John, a 31-year-old All-Star for the Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets known as “Johnny Hockey,” and Matthew, 29, who played collegiate hockey alongside his brother at Boston College, were killed by an alleged drunken driver Aug. 29 while out on a bike ride on the eve of their sister’s wedding.
In an equally moving eulogy, Meredith Gaudreau sobbed as she called John “my soulmate.
“The fact that you are both together in Heaven gives me a little bit of comfort,” she said of the dead siblings. “I know John could not live a day without his brother. That whatever silly conversation they were having just picked up in Heaven in a flash.”
The size of the crowd was proof “that John and Matthew’s lives mattered,” said the Rev. Ralph Chieffo in his homily.
“That they were noted on this Earth. That they were loved on this Earth. That they were valued on this Earth.
“All of us simply have a visa on this Earth,” the priest said. “We don’t have a passport. We’re here for a short time. Sometimes too short a time. We’ve been robbed of something here today — two really wonderful young men … who had futures left to live, who had goals and accomplishments yet to be achieved.”
The pallbearers for Johnny included NHL players Hayes, the Blue Jackets’ Sean Monahan and Washington Capitals’ Andrew Mangiapane, while Matthew’s casket was carried by, among others, Devin Joyce, his future brother-in-law. Also in attendance were the Montreal Canadiens’ Cole Caufield and Patrik Laine.
Caufield, who has worn No. 22 for the Canadiens, has said he will now wear No. 13 in honor of John Gaudreau.
The funeral followed a private viewing Sunday.
Madeline Gaudreau said during her eulogy, “I urge everyone not to drink and drive.
“Please do not leave another family in this torture.”
The brothers were mourned across the sports world, including in Columbus, Ohio, where Johnny signed a free-agent deal in 2022 with the small-market Blue Jackets over more lucrative free-agent offers from other teams, including in New Jersey.
The Gaudreau brothers were cycling on a road in Oldmans Township about 8 p.m. when they were struck by an SUV, New Jersey State Police said.
They were pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins, was charged with driving under the influence, reckless driving and two counts of death by auto. He is facing a hearing Sept. 13.
The brothers have been celebrated on various social media platforms since their deaths.
Katie Gaudreau, the little sister who was to be married the day after the brothers were killed, posted pictures of her family in happier times on social media.
— Additional reporting by David Blezow and Justin Tasch
