Couple who died in Rawdon fire at historical home described as pillars of community

The small community of Rawdon, a town northeast of Montreal, is grieving the loss a woman described as a pillar of the community and a kind man with a passion for history — who are missing after an early morning fire consumed their home.

Though police have not yet confirmed the names of the two people found dead after a fire broke out in a small historical house on Rectory Garden Street overnight, they say the home's occupants, a couple who were "around 70 years old," are missing.

To many in the town and in the wider region, there is no doubt. They know who lived in the house on Rectory Garden Street, a 180-year-old heritage house located on a secluded dirt road near the centre of town: Sue Ellen Jones and Christopher Millar.

Friends of the couple say Jones was deeply involved with the local Anglican church, the English Community Organization of Lanaudière and active in a number of other community organizations, such as a local women's group and historical society.

A fire that engulfed a historical home in Rawdon overnight Friday killed two people. Community members say Sue Ellen Jones and Christopher Millar are the couple who lived in the home and are now grieving their loss. (Radio-Canada)

She was a quilting aficionado and someone who made sure her all loved ones had somewhere to go for Christmas dinner.

That's how Nathan McNutt, who recently moved to Rawdon, remembered her on Friday.

"I've only known her for a year and she seems like she was one of my best friends of all time. She was always there, generous," he said.

McNutt said Jones had stepped in and helped his wife through a difficult time.

"Taking her to various places around the community to take care of her, and she had a very deep, good soul," he said. "And she gave really good hugs."

Sue Ellen Jones lived in the home on Rectory Garden Street in Rawdon that burned down overnight Friday. Friends of Jones and her husband Christopher Millar believe the couple died in the fire. (Submitted by Daniel Parkinson)

Millar, Jones's husband, was shy, McNutt recalled, but no less generous. Millar was an expert on history — a passion he shared with his wife and which influenced their decision to move into the home on Rectory Garden Street.

Records date the quaint white clapboard home back to the 1840s, according to Daniel Parkinson, who wrote a series of books about the history of the town.

It was "probably the oldest house in Rawdon," he said. The home was originally built as a parsonage — a church house for members of the clergy.

Parkinson met Jones and Millar when he wrote an article about the house in 2022. They were welcoming and kind, he said, and were steadily restoring it. In an interview from his home in Toronto, he recalled in detail the layout of the house: its timber bones and large living spaces made for community meetings and gatherings.

The human toll of the fire shook Parkinson. "Both Chris and Sue Ellen were lovely people and very much at the centre of the church and community," he said. "It's a real shock."

But it also robbed the community of a piece of its heritage — one that Sue Ellen and Chris had prized and cared for.

"It was such a lovely little building," Parkinson said, "and it just literally took you back 180 years [to] when it was built."

The stairs in Jones and Millar's Rawdon home were photographed by Daniel Parkinson, who wrote about the historical building in 2022. (Submitted by Daniel Parkinson)

The house was also almost entirely made of wood. The fire appeared to have consumed it quickly. A provincial police spokesperson said someone inside the house called 911 around 1:30 a.m. and said their house was on fire. The line cutoff midway through the call.

By the time firefighters arrived on the scene, the house was already engulfed in flames. They later found two bodies, but have not yet identified them.

Rodney Clark, the priest at the Anglican Parish of Rawdon, described Jones and Millar as "a fine couple."

"Sue Ellen was extraordinary in many ways: a true community and neighborhood powerhouse," he said in an email.

"Those that died in the fire have not yet been identified — we assume the deceased are Sue Ellen and Christopher; but that has not been confirmed."

Raymond Rougeau, the mayor of Rawdon, described the fire as a "tremendous loss."

Jones and Millar will be missed, he said, particularly at the next church dinner or charity event, where Jones was a constant and reassuring presence.

"She was a woman who was very implicated, always there in the background but didn't want the spotlight," he said. "You don't find people like that every day."