Stauffer was killed in a two-vehicle accident while driving to Edmonton on Sunday. His wife, Irene, also an ordained Covenant minister, has been released from the hospital after undergoing surgery on her badly damaged left hand and wrist.
Virgil began his ministry in the Evangelical Missionary Church and then transferred into the Covenant. He pastored College Park Covenant Church in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan from 1997-2001. Irene also was on staff.
Virgil subsequently became the director of King’s Fold Retreat Centre near Calgary, and Irene oversaw the operation of the chapel, says Jeff Anderson, superintendent of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada.
Extensive renovations were made to King’s Fold under Virgil’s guidance, says Anderson. Covenant pastors and leaders have used the centre.
According to news reports and Anderson, the accident occurred when two northbound cars on the Queen Elizabeth II Highway sideswiped each other roughly an hour south of Edmonton. Virgil lost control of his vehicle, which crossed the centerline and flipped on its roof before coming to rest in the southbound lanes.
Virgil was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene. Three people in the second vehicle were not injured.
