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![\"Brenda](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4313544_web1_724958612_10165144929881031_2936896237507796478_n.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBrenda Lee and Dan Keats were killed in a highway collision on Saturday when their motorcycle was struck by a pickup truck north of Selkirk. (Supplied) <\/p>\n
\u201cThey were inseparable. Just the way they were with each other, you could see the love,\u201d Zirk said in an interview Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were the kindest, gentlest individuals.\u2026 We were more than friends; we were family.\u201d<\/p>\n
The collision occurred at about 1 p.m., when the group of 75 riders travelling north on Breezy Point Road were turning left onto Provincial Road 320 to access the bridge across the Red River on Highway 4. Keats, who was driving his motorcycle with Brenda on the back, was completing the turn when they were struck by a southbound pickup truck.<\/p>\n
RCMP said both died at the scene.<\/p>\n
The driver of the pickup truck, a 26-year-old man from the RM of St. Andrews, was not injured. The investigation is ongoing, police said.<\/p>\n
Zirk, who was riding beside them at the time of the crash, phoned for an ambulance and contacted Brenda\u2019s son Jason Lee, 41, and her daughter Chery Lee, 45.<\/p>\n
The siblings said there were few things their mother and step-father loved more than riding motorcycles and spending time with their seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was their life,\u201d Jason said.<\/p>\n
The association was founded in 1983, and currently has about 40 riders. Keats and Brenda were among the longest-serving members of the club; they were each involved for more than 30 years, Zirk said.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \u201cThe primary reason that the association is still around and together is because of their devotion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n At the time of their deaths, Keats had been serving as the club\u2019s treasurer for roughly a decade and Brenda was the members co-ordinator. While she did not technically hold an executive title, it was clear Brenda was the lifeblood of the organization, Zirk said.<\/p>\n She had worked as an executive assistant for accounting firm Pope and Brookes, which gave her the experience to help Keats with the club\u2019s financial books.<\/p>\n She earned the nickname \u201cStitch\u201d from members of the club, who relied on her to design and sew club patches onto their vests. She also planned holiday parties for Halloween and Christmas, and an annual awards night, Zirk said.<\/p>\n Members would be honoured with the \u201chard luck\u201d award if their bike broke down and needed an expensive fix, or earn the \u201ctraining wheels\u201d award if they dropped their motorcycle. Keats, who had been a motorcyclist since his teenage years, was recognized multiple times for riding more kilometres than any other member in a single season, Zirk said.<\/p>\n The pair met in 1994, after a friend of Keats introduced them. Brenda quickly adopted his passion for motorcycles and joined the association. They would have celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary next weekend, coinciding with another annual ride with their club members, Chery said.<\/p>\n Jason remembered Keats as a \u201claid back\u201d and relentlessly kind man. He made his career working for the Canadian National Railway and spent his free time riding, talking about or working on his motorcycle \u2014 sometimes dismantling parts and taking them into his Transcona living room to work on them.<\/p>\n Brenda had a reputation for being outspoken and unabashed. She was loyal, selfless and maternal, her daughter said.<\/p>\n \u201cShe put on a very tough exterior, but she had such a heart of gold,\u201d Chery said.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \u201cI talked to my mom about everything. Every personal detail of my life, she knew every single little thing. She was my person.\u201d<\/p>\n The association was slated to hold an executive meeting Monday night to discuss how to move forward following the crash. A second meeting with general members is scheduled Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to come up with a date and a time, and we will be doing a memorial ride. That\u2019s for sure,\u201d Zirk said.<\/p>\n tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t Tyler Searle Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press\u2019s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic\u2019s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022.\u00a0Read more about Tyler<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n \t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKeats and Lee together on their wedding day in 2013. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKeats and Lee on their trip to Sturgis, S.D. in 2025. (Supplied)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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