KENNEBUNK — Nicole Oliver was 24 when she was shot and killed by her husband in their Wells home in July 2007. T.J. Oliver then killed himself. The couple had two young boys.
A couple of years after Nicole Oliver’s untimely death, her friends and family organized a run and walk to honor her, and to support Caring Unlimited, a domestic violence resource center serving York County. On Saturday, Nicole’s Run/Walk will mark its seventh year as participants gather at Lord’s Point on Kennebunk Beach.
The event is a major fundraiser for Caring Unlimited, along with the Atlantic Plunge held each Jan 1. The agency, which serves domestic abuse victims across York County, provides a 24-hour confidential hotline, emergency shelter, transitional housing, support and education groups, legal advocacy, school-based education, and advocacy and community education, said spokeswoman Emily Gormley.
The 5K (3.1-mile) run or walk begins at 9 a.m., with registration opening at 6:45 a.m. The third annual 1K Kid’s Fun Run will take off at 8:30 a.m. Registration fees vary.
Oliver’s friends and family organized the run to benefit Caring Unlimited, and its mission to ensure that potentially life-saving programs will always be available for victims of domestic violence in the county.
Oliver had tried to leave the marriage before that fatal day in July 2007, but her devotion to her sons and her conviction they should live with their father kept her returning. She had, at one point, left for a year, family members have said. At the time of the murder, Oliver had moved out, begun taking nursing classes at York County Community College, was working full-time and raising the couple’s two children.
Friends and family members believe that Nicole went to see her husband the night before they were found dead in the house, because he had offered to help her financially with the apartment she was renting for herself and the children.
Nicole’s Run/Walk is presented in part by 2014 event sponsor Kennebunk Savings Bank.
For more information and to register online for the event, visit www.nicolesrun.org.
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.
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