‘Jesus Loves Nerds:’ Faith focus of memorial for twins who died on bobsled track

CALGARY – The sobbing sister of identical twin brothers who died in an after-hours joyride down a bobsled track told mourners Thursday that “two of the biggest pieces” of her heart are gone.

Katie Caldwell said her 17-year-old brothers Jordan and Evan were fun-loving, kind and overly fond of pranks.

“Pranks between those two boys was almost their own love language, but their jokes never went too far and would have never been this cruel. Evan and Jordan would never have wanted for us … to suffer like this,” she cried.

“You were taken from us too soon. There are just no words. Two of the biggest pieces of my heart are gone. You guys took those pieces with you. All I can do is stand here in front of you and ask you all to remember them.”

The twins, along with six others, snuck onto the bobsled track at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary early Saturday. The friends were tobogganing down when they hit a gate separating the bobsled and luge runs used during the 1988 Winter Olympics.

Three of those injured remained in hospital Thursday.

The twins had been “ambassadors” welcoming guests and scanning tickets at the park last season.

The boys’ father, Jason Caldwell, told the more than 2,200 people who attended the 90-minute service, that he is proud of his sons. He said they were smart, accomplished and always willing to help a friend.

“(Their mother) Shauna and I never, ever had to have that talk with the boys about excellence. Excellence was in their hearts. There was never an I-have-to attitude. They always had an I-get-to attitude to everything they did.”

A memorial table focused on the boys’ faith and their academic achievement.

“Jesus Loves Nerds” proudly proclaimed one poster on a table at Calgary’s Centre Street Church.

Medals, a ski helmet, flowers, notes from friends and T-shirts with the images of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Abraham Lincoln were carefully laid out.

Pastor Glen Nudd of Rocky Mountain Calvary Chapel, the family’s church, has known the boys since birth and said he has fond memories of them.

“They were full of passion, excellence. They loved God and they loved people,” he recalled before the memorial started.

He said the family’s faith is getting them through the ordeal.

“It’s everything. They’re very sad, but their sadness is buoyed up by their faith in Jesus and knowing that they’re going to be together again.”

Nudd also remembered the fun side of the two young men, who took great delight when people couldn’t tell them apart.

“In fact they had a lot of fun being twins that looked exactly the same,” he said with a smile.

“How I got to finally figure out who was who is one of them had a mullet, and that was Evan, and Evan decided to get rid of his mullet, which was hard on me, because I was back trying to figure out who was who again.”

An investigation into the accident continues.

Follow @BillGraveland on Twitter

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version misspelled the pastor’s first name.