A neighbour and close friend of Roberta Jollimore, found dead in her home with her son last Friday in an apparent murder-suicide, says the family was facing “very challenging circumstances.”
Holly Bell lives next door to Roberta and Greg Jollimore, whose bodies were found Friday afternoon at 3608 Willow St.
Roberta, 75, suffered from Parkinson’s disease for many years and her condition had worsened in the last one or two years, Bell said.
She said she believes Greg Jollimore, 52, was doing everything he possibly could to care for his sick mother.
“And if he snapped — I don’t know the details, we’ll never know — but whatever happened, that doesn’t shock me that something had to give,” Bell said.
At 62, Bell has gone through caring for aging parents herself and said it’s no small feat getting care for seniors or beds for them in nursing homes.
“It’s not just a wave of a wand,” she said. “We’re not living in the old extended family of 150 years ago where there would be perhaps 10 family members to help out with an ailing senior.”
Bell emphasized that both the Jollimores were good people. “And things like this can happen to good people,” she said.
