Jeanette Niebler-Blei and her daughter Rachel Niebler loved, and were loved, fiercely.
It’s one thing Kirsten Niebler never has to wonder about.
“We all love each other a lot, and I’m really thankful for that,” she said of her mom and sister who died in a house fire last week. “We never, at least, have to wonder how we felt about each other.”
Before Kirsten left her Edinburgh Road South home for work on March 11, she told her mother and sister she loved them, giving them each a hug and a kiss.
Later that night, she was watching TV on her laptop when she heard her sister scream, “fire.”
“Then I heard my mom say, come over here,” she said.
But all she could see was smoke. Kirsten jumped out of her second-storey window, fracturing her heel in the process.
Her stepfather, Mark Blei, was already outside, and tried to catch her. He sustained minor injuries – some scratches and smoke inhalation. She had her cell phone with her and was able to call 911 once outside.
Jeanette and Rachel didn’t make it out. Neither did their beloved cat Sandwich.
“My mom and sister were together at least,” she said.
Their family has lived in the townhouse at 383 Edinburgh Rd. for around 15 years. It’s the home the siblings grew up in after moving from Stratford when they were 12.
Kirsten, who is the head chef at Which Craft on Wyndham Street, had only moved back home three months ago. Rachel had been staying in a group home during the week but regularly visited and would come home for weekends.
Kirsten and Rachel were triplets, alongside their brother Dylan.
“Growing up with Rachel and Dylan was definitely interesting,” she said. “They’re both autistic, and my mom was a hero for all of us. She always talked about us like we were the pride and joy of her life.”
Jeanette never missed an opportunity to show off just how proud she was of her children, and her social media accounts were filled with posts gushing about how much she loved them.
When Kirsten started as head chef at Which Craft and was featured in GuelphToday, her mom shared the article on Facebook, saying “that’s my girl, she’s the head chef.”
“My sister even started calling me master chef,” Kirsten said. “They never made it down (to the restaurant) unfortunately. But I was able to bring some food home for them at least.”
Family time was always important, whether it was the girls binge-watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer together, or camping and riding bikes with their dad.
One of Kirsten’s fondest memories is from 2019. She went out for New Year’s Eve, but around 11 p.m. decided she wanted to go home.
She texted Rachel to see if she was still up and if she wanted to watch the ball drop together.
“My parents got her sparkling grape juice or something because she didn’t drink, and we watched the ball drop together and drank the sparkling grape juice. That was a really nice memory I have of her.”
Rachel was always affectionate and a big hugger. She loved art and fashion, and would always enthusiastically dress up for every single holiday.
“If she was still around for St. Patrick’s Day this year, she would have been decked out and all green,” she said.
She loved jewelry too, and went through a phase where she would wear bracelets all the way up her arms.
One of her support workers would even take her to clothing stores to help set up mannequin displays.
When she wasn’t on the hunt for festive outfits or styling mannequins, she could often be found drawing or painting.
For the funeral, Kirsten said they’re hanging some of Rachel’s art and will be making bracelets in her honour to hand out.
Jeanette was known for her sense of humour – typically sarcasm and witty one-liners. She loved animals, especially horses, having trained them before having her three kids.
She was also a “pretty great friend to everybody.”
“She had this triplet group on Facebook, so she used to meet a bunch of other triplet moms through that, so they’d share and tell each other stories. She had friends all over the world because of that,” she said.
For Kirsten, Jeanette was always the person she would go to for advice.
“She was always a very good voice of reason and logic. She also just cared so much. She always had the right thing to say.”
But what Kirsten will miss most is seeing them smile, and the way they each knew how to comfort her.
The family lost everything in the fire, and Kirsten is unable to work with her fractured heel. A GoFundMe has been launched to help them get back on their feet. At the time of writing, it has raised over $13,000.
Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the fire.
A joint funeral service will be held on March 22 at 2 p.m. at the Church of the Apostles.
