Katie Gaudreau is continuing to pay tribute to her brothers, Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, in the weeks following their death.
“My biggest accomplishment in life will always be being your sister,” Katie wrote via X on Saturday, September 21, while reposting a video tribute from the official NHL account. “Love you forever.”
News broke late last month that Johnny and Matthew died while riding their bikes in Oldmans Township, New Jersey. Johnny was 31 and Matthew was 29.
Us Weekly confirmed that the brothers were struck and killed by 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins, who was arrested and charged with two counts of vehicular homicide. He is suspected of being drunk at the time of the incident.
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Higgins was driving behind two vehicles and “attempted to pass the slower-moving sedan and SUV” when he “entered the southbound lanes of travel, passed the slower-moving sedan and attempted to re-enter the northbound lanes of travel,” the New Jersey State Police told Us.
“The SUV in front of Higgins moved to the middle of the roadway, splitting the north and south lanes to safely pass the two pedalcyclists traveling north on the right side of the roadway,” which is when the incident occurred. He struck both Johnny and Matthew “in the rear” causing the fatalities.
The brothers were set to be groomsmen in Katie’s wedding, which has been postponed since the incident. Johnny and Matthew are survived by their parents and two sisters as well as their respective wives, Meredith and Madeline. (Meredith is pregnant with the couple’s third child while Madeline is expecting the pair’s first baby.)
Days after their deaths, Katie honored her brothers with a sweet carousel of family photos. “To know these two was to love these two,” Katie wrote via Instagram earlier this month. “There are absolutely no words I have to express the bond my family shared. The entire world knows there would never have been a John without Matty or Matty without John. The absolute best big brothers a little girl could have asked for.”
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She continued, “This will never be a goodbye post because I will never stop saying your names and honoring you both. I’ll take the best care of mom, dad, Kristen, Mer, Madeline, and your babies.”
Katie’s fiancé, Devin Joyce, shared his own emotional message to his late brothers-in-law while sharing a photo of the family.
“They say when you find The One, you’re not just marrying them but their family too,” Joyce wrote via Instagram earlier this month. “I know I never said it, but I loved you guys so much. I’m so lucky to have called you two my brothers for as long as I did.”
He concluded, “There is not a second that will go by [that] I will not look at Katie and see both of you. I promise to take the absolute best care of your little sister, and I know when the day comes you will be with us on that day.”