Losing a spouse can be one of life鈥檚 most painful experiences.

And when the two of you were in the middle of a large renovation project, it can be even harder to get through.

That proved true for Nellie Mair, who lost her husband Peter to a stroke this January. The married couple had been renovating their home on Robert Lang Drive in Courtenay when the stroke occurred.

鈥淢y husband and I worked for four years on [our house] because it was a mess when we bought it,鈥� said Mair. 鈥淲e worked on the upstairs first, changed all the windows. We finally [started renovating] downstairs and a lot of the material was downstairs.鈥�

鈥淲e thought we鈥檇 clean it up when it was done,鈥� she continued. 鈥淲e鈥檇 finished most of the drywall, the ceiling, the walls鈥� the windows were put in. A lot of material was sitting there and it was a real mess. It wasn鈥檛 bothering us, but then he had a stroke and died.鈥�

With drywall, tools and other construction materials littering the half-finished basement, Maier was unsure what to do next.

鈥淚 really didn鈥檛 know what to do,鈥� said Mair. 鈥淚 was not a construction worker and my husband did everything 鈥� I was just helping him with everything.鈥�

Assistance came in the form of Mair鈥檚 church 鈥� the Courtenay Fellowship Baptist Church (CFBC). After talking to her friends about her plight, a group of CFBC members learned about the unfinished work. They took it upon themselves to help complete the house renovations throughout the spring.

The group of 鈥済ood Samaritans鈥� painted the basement walls, completed the electrical work, put the bathroom together and completed the hardwood floors.

They also finished framing the windows and transported truckloads of material to the dump.

鈥淭hey came and did a fantastic job,鈥� said Mair. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 want anything [in return], they just wanted to do it.鈥�

Julie Le Goff, an administrator with the CFBC, said the group of volunteers doesn鈥檛 want recognition for their assistance, and just did it because it was the right thing to do.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got a really great team of mostly retired men who have the time and they do all kinds of things.鈥� said Le Goff. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a really neat crew of guys.鈥�

Le Goff said the volunteers helped Mair indirectly as well; since her husband鈥檚 passing, she鈥檚 been unable to afford her home and has since listed it for sale.

鈥淪he wouldn鈥檛 have been able to list this house with that mess down there,鈥� said Le Goff.