The widow of the 52-year-old man who was struck and killed by a stolen vehicle says they were making plans for the next stage of their lives now that their children were grown.

Lyle Rude died Monday morning on his way to work when his SUV was T-boned by a Jeep Cherokee on 100th Avenue at 156th Street.

"I didn't think he would be taken so soon," a sobbing Audrey Flynn said on Thursday.

"We had the kids gone and you would think you were to live until seventies, eighties. And at fifty-two and ... a block and a half from work and this happens."

Flynn said her common-law husband of 14 years was a caring man who took in and raised her five children. Rude also had a son that he loved "to death," Flynn said.

Audrey Flynn is angry with the man charged in the crash that killed her husband, Lyle Rude, early Monday morning. (CBC)

Now that Lyle is gone, Flynn says she's furious at the 24-year-old man charged in the collision.

"Right now, I'm very, very bitter," she said. "I am extremely angry at that person."

The fact that Flynn lives so close to the crash site adds to her grief.

"It's horrible. It's absolutely horrible," she said. "No matter what way, direction, I'm going around the city, I have to go past that spot ... I still have the vision of the vehicle upside down."

Jeep pursued earlier by police

Les Rude remembered his older brother as someone who was generous with his time.

"He was always there to help his friends or his family if he could in any way," Rude said.

Lyle liked to do things with his hands, always working on motorcycles or old cars.

"He was someone who lived one day at time," Les Rude said.

Lyle Rude died instantly when a stolen Jeep Cherokee crashed into his SUV at high speed. Police had tried earlier to pull over the Jeep about 20 blocks away, but the vehicle sped away.

Police gave chase, but called the pursuit off after 20 seconds. RCMP are now investigating.

Rude's family plans to hold a memorial in Edmonton Saturday and one at a later date in his home town of Consort, Alta.