CARLA CROWDER
Scripps Howard News Service

Published Thursday, November 25, 1999

DENVER -- Daniel and Chantal Ward married Friday night in a Virginia farmhouse, a last-minute family wedding because both bride and groom were scheduled to start another season in their dream jobs as ski instructors at a Colorado resort.

But less than 72 hours after they sealed their vows with a kiss, the couple died together on an icy mountain highway, the only fatalities in the massive 83-vehicle wreck on Interstate 70 on Monday.



"They were Prince Charming and Cinderella," said Daniel's stepfather, Ralph Mattera, 63, of Woodford, Va.

He and Daniel's mother, Gradye Mattera, hugged the newlyweds goodbye for the last time Saturday morning as they boarded a plane bound for Denver at the Richmond, Va., airport. The groom was 28; his bride was 27.

Marriage for Daniel and Chantal didn't come easy, Mattera explained.

"Chantal was a Canadian citizen. He spent six months getting her immigration paperwork. He finally got her into this country this Thursday," Ralph Mattera said. "They got a marriage license Thursday morning. They were married in this house Friday night."

So rushed was the wedding that the Wards persuaded the court clerk to open the courthouse late Friday night so the proper documents could be filed.

The groom was 28; his bride was 27.

Daniel Ward grew up in northern Virginia. He was an expert skier from the first time he strapped on skis.

Daniel met Chantal while working a summer job at a Club Med resort in the Caribbean. He was teaching windsurfing. She was teaching aerobics. She was from Montreal.

"They were so full of life, so athletic," Mattera said.

Both also performed on stage at evening Club Med events and spent a lot of time interacting with guests, helping them feel welcome and comfortable at the resort, said Carole Boucard, director of public relations for Club Med, the Miami-based resort.

For five winters, Daniel and Chantal had been working at the Club Med resort in the Copper Mountain ski area.

In May, they went in with a friend and bought a townhouse in Silverthorne.