As a Nova Scotia community mourns a couple killed in a highway collision, the mayor of Mahone Bay says the incident highlights the need to twin highways in the province.

Dr. David and Heather Abriel were killed when their SUV collided head-on with a delivery truck on Nova Scotia’s Highway 103 near Ingramport Thursday morning.

The couple was well-known as musicians and for their commitment to their community. Their friends say they were devoted grandparents and did everything together, including playing Father and Mrs. Christmas in Mahone Bay’s Christmas Festival.

“He had such a big heart and a big benevolent heart,” says bandmate and friend, Jon Allen. “He was just such a big bear and he was just the perfect person for Father Christmas.”

David and Heather were also part of the musical group, Midlife Crisis.

“We’ve been together as a group and as the closest of friends for 27 years,” says bandmate and friend Dave Moore. “He could play anything you put in his hands and I was so privileged to be a part of that.”

Moore says David’s friends were worried about him because he had been experiencing some health issues.

“I always feared something bad would happen to him, now that he was in his 60s,” says Moore. “I never dreamt it would be this, and that they would both go together.”

But as much as David loved music, friends say his patients always came first. He worked at Fishermen’s Memorial Hospital in Lunenburg for more than 30 years. The Nova Scotia Health Authority released a statement Friday, describing him as a devoted physician and a gentle giant who believe in patient-centred care.

“In particular, as the palliative care position for the South Shore area, I think endeared him to hundreds, if not thousands of people,” says Mahone Bay Mayor David Devenne.

Devenne says he experienced it firsthand when his wife passed away.

“He basically came to the house every other day, called every day,” says Devenne.

He also says he hopes the latest tragedy will drive home the importance of divided highways. The provincial government recently announced it is looking for ways to fast-track the twinning of Nova Scotia’s notorious Highway 103, where the Abriels died.

Public consultation meetings are scheduled to take place on the South Shore next week.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kayla Hounsell