Father’s touching tribute to crash victim Catriona Anne Williams

The father of a former Noosa High student who died in a car accident on the outskirts of Gympie has paid loving tribute to his once-troubled daughter, who he said had found peace and happiness in the Mary Valley.

Catriona Anne Williams is described as having a presence 'larger than life.' She sadly died after her car rolled and crashed on Corella Rd on Saturday, October 28, 2023. Picture: Supplied

A tragic, single-vehicle accident in Gympie on October 28, took the life of 32-year-old mother-of-three Catriona Anne Williams.

Ms Williams was killed when her silver 2000 Honda HRV left Corella Road and hit a tree about 10.30pm last Saturday night.

The former Cooran resident had been living in Amamoor for some time, working at the local store for a few weeks and enjoying the natural surroundings.

She has been remembered by her devastated father Brad Williams, as a person who loved exploring the outdoors and helping injured animals

“A lot of people thought she was fearless, but she had plenty of fears. She just never let fear hold her back,” Mr Williams said.

Catriona grew up in Cooran and attended the Cooran Primary School and then Noosa District High before securing a job in the forestry on the Cooloola Coast.

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Catriona Anne Williams is described as having a presence 'larger than life.' She sadly died when her car rolled and crashed on Corella Rd in Gympie, on Saturday, October 28, 2023. Picture: Supplied

Her father described her as someone who had a fire in her and “a presence larger than life”.

“She touched everyone she met,” he said.

“She would bring home animals all the time that were hit by cars, or ones she found injured on the ground - lizards, birds, dogs.”

Mr Williams said he’d been devastated to receive the news of Catriona’s death, something he said he might have expected five years ago, but not in the past 12 months.

She was getting her life on track after a few rough years, he said.

“She loved adventure and was always climbing trees, climbing mountains, jumping into waterfalls.”

She had found peace and happiness living in Amamoor, exploring its waterholes and had made plans to camp up there over the summer, he said.

“My daughter had a thing about collecting rocks, everywhere she went, she would bring home rocks,” Mr Williams said.

“I think they were her memories of places she liked.”

When he visited the crash site this week, he said he noticed a small pile of rocks in front of the flowers placed by her friends who knew about how she loved rocks.

“I can still hear her voice in my head saying, ‘Don’t be sad, Dad’,” Mr Williams said.

“All you need is love.”

Originally published as Father’s touching tribute to crash victim Catriona Anne Williams