“Mourn for the dead, fight for the living”

The Workers’ Memorial remembers those who have lost their lives on the job in Kingston and surrounding area. Every year on April 28, people across Canada participate in the Day of Mourning to remember and honour those who have been killed or injured on the job, and those who have become ill from workplace hazards.

The Workers’ Memorial

John Curran
July 31, 1880
Employer: St. Lawrence and Chicago Forwarding Company
Returning from a work break, Curran fell 16 feet into the hold of the Mary Copley, docked in Portsmouth Harbour. He lived on Wellington Street and left behind a wife and four children.

Edward Hickey, labourer
September 30, 1881
Hickey suffered a fatal head injury from bricks during the construction of Kingston’s Cotton Mill. Hickey died the following morning at his Kingston home after Dr. Phelan concluded his wounds were fatal. Hickey was a veteran of the Crimean War.

Edwin Cuddiford, apprentice bricklayer, 17
October 26, 1881
Cuddiford fell 70 feet from scaffolding surrounding the tower of the Cotton Mill during its construction. He was taken to Kingston General Hospital.

David Danby, conductor, 22

January 5, 1887

Danby was a freight train conductor who was crushed between a passenger coach and engine while trying to couple them at the Grand Trunk depot in Kingston. He was originally from Port Hope.

James Hogan, miner
February 12, 1890
Resident of Inverary
Hogan worked at the Foxton phosphate mine near Sydenham. While being lowered into the mine in a “bucket”, he fainted and fell over and was killed instantly after a 100 foot drop. Hogan’s death was reported as the second death at the Foxton Mine in ten days. 

Robert Milligan
November 20, 1895
Milligan was fatally injured by the edging taken of a board at a saw mill in Tamworth. He died two days after the accident, leaving behind a wife and daughter.

William Newman, 68
March 8, 1898
Brock Street, Kingston
During the construction of the Montreal Transportation Company’s elevator, Newman fell from a 140 foot scaffolding.

William Moon, fireman, 26
May 12, 1899
Grand Trunk Railway
Two freight trains traveling in the same direction collided two miles west of Napanee. William Moon was the only member of either crews who was unable to escape the crash and was crushed in the collision. The jury at the coroner’s inquest also “strongly censured” the Grand Trunk Railway for overloading their engine and not properly equipping it with air brakes. Only four of the freight’s 32 cars had air brakes. Moon was a resident of Belleville and had worked for the Grand Trunk Railway since the age of 16, and was a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen.

Martin Jenman, carter
April 7, 1904
Grand Trunk Railway
Jenman was “a well-known and popular” carter for Grand Trunk who was fatally injured by a fall from a moving train. He and his co-worker John Dinsmore had jumped on a train at Grand Trunk junction in Kingston, but could not open the doors. Unable to get inside, Jenman and Dinsmore jumped off. Dinsmore was severely injured, whereas Jenman fell under the train and suffered a nearly-severed right leg, compound fractures and head injuries. He was found an hour later and taken to Kingston General Hospital where he died four hours after the accident.

Frederick Mullen, Welland
Captain W. Allison, Morrisburg
Evan Guillard, Morrisburg
Captain F. Couillard, Montebello
April 18, 1905
Explosion aboard steamer, Scout, at government dry dock

Robert Burke, machinist, 22
October 2, 1906
Canadian Locomotive Company
Robert Burke operated the slotting machine, the largest in Canada, at the Locomotive Works. While inspecting the machine while in operation, his head was crushed and he was killed instantly. Burke was a resident of Nelson Street and was unmarried.

William Dennis, engineer, 40
Thomas McDermott, fireman, 30
January 23, 1911
Grand Trunk Railway
Both residents of Belleville, Dennis and McDermott were killed in a collision between two trains on the Grand Trunk Railway half a mile east of Collins Bay. Dennis left behind a widow, two daughters and son. He was a veteran on the rails and a member of the Order of Grand Trunk Trainmen and Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen. McDermott had only been working on the railway for about a year.

Thomas McCabe, painter, 56
June 21, 1911
McCabe was an experienced painter who reportedly suffered a stroke while painting a house on York Street. The stroke caused him to fall from the scaffolding and suffer a fatal head injury.

William Coleman, 63
November 30, 1911
Employer: Canadian Northern Railway
While preparing to blast rock in the construction of the Canadian Northern Railway near Perth Road in Frontenac County, Coleman was struck on the head by a large rock on November 30. He was taken to Kingston General Hospital where he died on December 4.

Carmen Saferaid/Carman Faserdal
February 12, 1912
Canadian Northern Railway
Carmen Saferaid was an Italian labourer on the Canadian Northern Railway. Working near Sydenham, Saferaid’s leg was crushed by a stone in an accident on January 20. He was taken to Kingston General Hospital where he died of gangrene. The contractor was S.W. Scriven.

Stephen Denchoff/J. Naidenoff, 30
March 24, 1912
Canadian Northern Railway
Contractor: M.G. Henniker
Denchoff was a Bulgarian labourer from CNR’s Lake Opinicon camp. He was working near Sydenham when he was fatally injured by flying rock in an explosion. The contractor was W.B. Mudie. He was taken to Kingston General Hospital, along with his co-worker Coley Neinkoff, where Denchoff succumbed to his wounds a few days after the explosion. He left behind a wife and two children in Bulgaria.

Coley Neinkoff/Koen Nangkoff, 35
May 27, 1912
Canadian Northern Railway
Contractor: M.G. Henniker
Neinkoff was a Bulgarian railway labourer involved in an explosion at a Canadian Northern Railway construction site in March 1912. The contractor was W.B. Mudie. He was admitted to hospital with his Bulgarian co-worker, Stephen Denchoff, who died a few days after the explosion. Neinkoff remained in Kingston General Hospital until he passed away May 27, 1912. He left behind a wife and four children in Bulgaria.

J.F. Hutton, 48
May 27, 1912
Canadian Northern Railway
While working at a Canadian Northern work camp, Hutton was fatally struck by a dump car used in excavations and died within three hours.

Todor Ukrank
May 30, 1912
Canadian Northern Railway
Todor Ukrank was part of a four-man railway work team caught in a rainstorm near Parham while travelling on a handcart on the Kingston & Pembroke Railway. Ukrank lost his hat in the wind. The brakes were applied to the cart, but Ukrank lost his grip on the car and was struck by the handle and knocked off the car. Ukrank suffered a fatal head injury and died in the evening at Hotel Dieu in Kingston. Two of his co-workers were injured, including Elai Aftodo who was seriously injured.

Artemi Draincha
Popovece Lazor
Tauder Muntean
Prescott Northrup, foreman
A. Tom Strugar
Thomas Roman Sturugarli
Petria A. Techem
Dunatri Trugui
June 1, 1912
Canadian Northern Railway
An accidental explosion killed eight of the 18 workers at a Canadian Northern Railway construction camp on Lake Opinicon. Six injured workers arrived at Kingston General on June 2 and reported broken limbs and internal injuries. Seven of the dead were Romanian labourers, six of whom died in the explosion or immediately afterwards. Prescott Northup, the foreman, was from New Brunswick. Only two were reported unscathed. The above names are from the Daily Standard, June 4 1912, and are likely incorrect for all the Romanian labourers.

William Dunn, railway worker
October 16, 1912
Canadian Northern Railway
While working near Newburg, Dunn was struck by a falling beam used in the construction of a tank on the Canadian Northern Railway. Dunn was a resident of Belleville.

William Greene, conductor
October 19, 1912
Canadian Pacific Railway
A resident of Havelock, Greene was killed in a collision three miles out from Sharbot Lake when the freight he was traveling on stalled on the Kingston & Pembroke Railway and was then struck by a second freight train.

Simon Byrne
November 8, 1912
Employer: Light, Heat and Power Department, City of Kingston
Byrne, an experienced lineman, was electrocuted while working on a light pole at the corner of Princess and King in downtown Kingston.

Clyde Smith, 27
March 17, 1913
Canadian Pacific Railway
Clyde Smith, of Memphis, New York, was struck by debris from blasting at a construction camp on the Canadian Pacific Railway near Parham. Smith died of head injuries before he could be moved to one of Kingston’s hospitals via the Kingston & Pembroke Railway.

William Leeman, 43
Unnamed Polish worker
May 5, 1913
Canadian Pacific Railway
Both workers were killed in an explosion at a blacksmith shop at a construction camp near Enterprise. Without evidence, the explosion was blamed on the Polish worker for either dropping a box of blasting caps, or throwing pieces of metal on to a box of blasting caps. The Polish worker’s name was never published in the Kingston press. Leeman was employed as a foreman by CPR contractor, Scrivens & White. Leeman left behind a wife and eight children.

Giuseppe Beninca, 23
Alfonso Bernardi, 23
Giuseppe Cadorin, 19
Vittorio Dall’Antonio
Giovanni Fraccaio, 34
Primo Grillo, 22
Michele “Mike” Gurrei, 28
Antonio Pituello, 23
Luigi Pituello, 40
Sante Seclotti, 19
June 26, 1913
Canadian Pacific Railway
An accidental explosion killed ten Italian railway workers 18 kilometres west of Parham near Echo Lake. The crew of thirteen was working through the night on the section of a large cut for the Canadian Pacific Railway between Perth and Belleville when the explosives detonated at 1am. The crew was employed by subcontractor Dominion Construction out of Port Hope, and headed by George Johnson. The only identifiable body was that of Italian foreman “Mike” Gurrei. Due lack of any evidence, Coroner Dr. Sands’ jury did not find the contractors or Canadian Pacific responsible, although Kingston’s two daily newspapers, the Whig and the Standard, made baseless speculations on alleged recklessness of the Italian labourers. The night watchman, Thomas Jacks, suggested in his testimony that a tamping rod with four sticks of dynamite was the source of the explosion. Angelo Cadorin, who survived the explosion that killed his brother, Giuseppe, said there was some trouble with a hole being loaded with explosives. One of the contractors, J.A. Johnson and work site superintendent Patrick Purcell testified that Gurrei was a foreman capable in handling explosives.

Oresti Battista
James Mitchell
August 5, 1913
Canadian Pacific Railway
Six work cars jumped the rails a quarter mile from Parham, and rolled down a 40-foot embankment at a trestle bridge, killing Italian labourer Oresti Battista and foreman James Mitchell, of Pontypool. At the coroner’s inquest, three Italian labourers testified that the train pushing the cars had been traveling too fast on a newly-laid gravel bed. Parham villagers testified that trains traveled faster than reported by railway authorities. All other witnesses, none of them Italian, testified that the train was running at a slower speed with the CPR’s engineer for the section of track, Lawrence Howard, testifying the train could run safely at twenty miles per hour. The coroner and the inquest’s jury found ruled no fault for the derailment but could not provide a reason for the derailment.

Melville Knapp, machinist, 30
September 15, 1913
Canadian Locomotive Company
Knapp suffered fatal injuries when a steam hammer fell on him. The machine was being moved by a rope, which broke. He suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung. He was rushed to Hotel Dieu but soon died. Knapp was a machinist in the blacksmith shop. Knapp lived at 92 William Street. He left behind three children, the oldest being three years of age, the youngest, six months. His widow was paid $3,000 by the Canadian Locomotive Company.

Daniel Brant
January 17, 1914
Employer: Olympic Powder Company
Indigenous worker, Daniel Brant, was killed in an explosion of the cartridge machine which he operated at the Olympic Powder Company in Deseronto. An unspecified number of Brant’s co-workers, all women, were reported injured in the explosion.

Jos. Oskey, 40
March 30, 1914
Employer: Frontenac Floor and Wall Tile Co.
Oskey was electrocuted by a portable lamp while cleaning the plant. It was reported the lamp had not been grounded. Oskey was German and had been working in Canada for about a year. He left behind a wife and two children.

James Belanger, painter, 60
August 9, 1915
Belanger fell sixteen feet from a scaffolding at a theatre under construction on Princess Street near Sydenham Street. He was rushed to Hotel Dieu but died within ten minutes. Belanger was employed by painter Thomas Milo who was also on the scaffold with another painter, Ernest Thompson. Belanger was a highly experienced painter. He left behind a wife, daughter and son.

Henry Chapman, electrician, 28
July 13, 1916
Chapman was electrocuted while working on fire alarm wires at the corner of Barrie and Deacon (now a pedestrian path between the Biosciences Complex and Abramsky Hall on the Queen’s University campus). Chapman was an experienced electrician who was employed by Kingston’s Civic Utilities, and had previously worked for Calgary’s City Electric Company. He was originally from Bedford Mills.

John Anglin, 11
September 2, 1916
Anglin and his brother were working on the family farm near Pine Grove when one of Anglin’s legs was seriously cut by the claws of a manure spreader on the back of wagon. His wounds were bandaged and he stayed at home overnight. The following day, his condition deteriorated and was rushed to Kingston General Hospital where he passed away.

John Novick, 16
December 10, 1916
Employer: Davis Tannery
Novick was leaving work in the evening and while reaching for a light switch in the dark, he was electrocuted by exposed fuses. His body was found by the night watchman. Coroner Dr. D. E. Mundell found no fault despite acknowledging the fuses should have been covered for safety purposes. A factory inspector, Mr. Whiting, had inspected the electrical system in April 1915 but determined there was no need to improve it.

James Hunter
November 30, 1917
Employer: Grand Trunk Railway
Hunter was a very experienced section foreman of a gang that was working on a cut near Collins Bay known as the “Death Trap crossing”. Hunter was killed instantly by a passing GTR engine when he stepped out of the way to allow a freight to pass going the opposite direction on the other track.

John Prince, welder’s assistant, 37
June 3, 1918
Collingwood Shipbuilding Company
Prince drowned in Lake Ontario after slipping and falling and then rolling down the sloping break-wall at the Collingwood shipyard’s wharf. He had been busy putting out a small fire caused by welding conducted by Robert Hall on a trawler. The jury convened by Coroner Mundell recommended the company install safeguards. Prince was a resident of 92 Elm Street and had a wife and two daughters, ages 10 and 12. Prince had served in the trenches with the 2nd Battalion and was severely wounded in combat.

Luke McDonald, 60
November 1, 1919
McDonald was employed in the construction of the Nurses’ Home at Rockwood Asylum, when a derrick used to lower items into an excavated pit failed, its boom falling into the pit, and fatally striking McDonald. Coroner Mundell ruled the forging at the top of the derrick’s mast had not been properly secured. McDonald had worked at the Canadian Locomotive Company and had also worked building bridges for the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Herbert Gatchel, 15
August 4, 1920
Gatchel was an assistant at Finkle’s livery stable on Clarence Street when he was electrocuted while handling an electric light. How he was electrocuted was not determined but it was speculated that he may have been standing in water while wearing his boots that had iron heels.

Arthur Sargent, machinist, 22
April 21, 1922
Employer: Davis Tannery
Arthur Sargent was killed instantly by electrocution after coming into contact with an “electric charged machine”. Efforts to revive Sargent failed and he was declared dead before he could be admitted to Kingston General Hospital. Sargent lived at 124 Stephen Street, was recently married and had two small children.

Harry C. Cooper, conductor, 56
October 27, 1922
Canadian Pacific Railway
Cooper was signaling to an engineer on his train while switching on to a siding in Harrowsmith when he was struck by a “severe glancing blow” by a side-tracked car and instantly killed by another rail car. Cooper had worked for the railways for thirty-five years and lived at 75 Lower Bagot Street in Kingston. He left behind a wife and six daughters.

Charles Bullpit, construction worker
October 30, 1922
Resident of Belleville
While finishing work on a CPR bridge near Kingston’s Outer Station, a derrick collapsed on Bullpit. His employer was contractor John Donovan. Bullpit left behind a wife and four children.

Thomas McMaster, railway worker
April 4, 1923
McMaster was in a crew of three picking scrap off the tracks near Rideau Station. While one freight was passing him safely, McMaster did not hear a second freight coming. He was struck and killed. McMaster was veteran railway worker from 1908 through to 1914 when he went overseas in the war. He returned to the railway in 1921.

William Bludney, miner
May 1925
Experienced miner, William Bludney, was working between the 400 and 500 foot levels at the Galetta mine of Frontenac Lead Mines on Perth Road when he lost his footing, fell through the stope at a distance of thirty feet. He suffered a fatal head injury.

Benson Hartman/Damon Hartwick, 55
June 28, 1926
Hartman was part of a crew working on a road near Long Lake north of Parham. When a blasting charge failed to explode, Hartman and a co-worker, William McKnight, went to examine it. The charge then exploded, and Hartman suffered a fatal head injury from flying debris and later died at Kingston General Hospital. McKnight escaped injury. Hartman was a resident of Mountain Grove and left behind a large family.

Harry Horton
January 25, 1927
Employer: Collingwood Shipyard Company
While prying steel plates from the steamship, Keyport, it is believed the pry bar slipped and two workers, including Horton, fell off a nine-foot scaffolding and broke his neck. He died shortly after at Hotel Dieu. Coroner R.J. Gardiner declined to hold an inquest.

Edward Porter
March 2, 1929
Employer: City of Kingston Public Utilities
Porter was trimming a tree near the corner of Princess and Division to allow wires through without obstruction. He had climbed an 18-foot ladder and made it up a further seven feet using his spurs. While leaning on a branch so he could put on his safety belt, the branch broke and Porter suffered a fatal fall.

Lawrence Cunningham, roofer
April 22, 1929
Cunningham worked for Lemmon & Sons as a roofer. He fell thirty-five feet off the roof of the Salvation Army Citadel, struck his head and died instantly.

Oscar Cowdy, carpenter, 28
March 14, 1930
A resident of Harrowsmith, Cowdy was killed at the Kingston Shipbuilding Company drydock when a derrick boom fell on him. He was a carpenter working on the drydock extension.

Andy Paul, labourer and cement finisher, 38
July 9, 1930
Paul was employed by the Carter-Hall-Addinger Company which was constructing the Canada Steamship Company’s elevetor at Cataraqui Bay. While forms were being removed from an 80-foot tank, Paul fell and suffered fatal injuries and died soon after at Kingston General Hospital. He had worked for Carter-Hall-Addinger for three years and left behind a wife and five children in his homeland of Hungary.

Paul Miller, 30
August 1930
Miller was from Montreal and had been working on the new elevator at Cataraqui Bay for some time. While working, he suffered a major knee injury that prevented him from working and required him to have crutches. While getting major treatment at Kingston General Hospital, he disappeared from the hospital sometime in early August 1930. His body was found August 31 in Bath Road Creek in a deliberate case of suicide by drowning according to the coroner R.J. Gardiner. His body was identified by two co-workers at the elevator who said Miller had become “melancholy” after his work injury.

Joseph Jessop
August 11, 1930
Canadian Locomotive Company
Jessop was working in the foundry of the Canadian Locomotive Company when he was crushed between two six-ton iron pots being loaded by chains into a truck. He was killed instantly. Jessop was boarder at 460 Bagot Street and a member of the Iron Moulders’ Union of North America Local 252.

John Blaney, 41
September 29, 1930
Canadian Locomotive Company
Blaney was a seventeen-year employee of the CLC. He was killed instantly when a lifting beam supporting an engine frame slid backwards and struck Blaney in the head. He left behind a wife and three sons.

William C. Connors
June 18, 1936
On June 15, 1936, Connors was working on a building at the Royal Military College. Atop a construction lift with an empty wheelbarrow, the wire cable broke, causing Connors to suffer a fatal head injury. He succumbed to his injuries on June 18. Connors was a resident of Barriefield.

Antonio Vincent, mason, 36
July 24, 1941
Vincent was working atop a scaffold at St. Mary’s Cathedral when the sling came loose, causing Vincent to fall 100 feet and suffer an immediate death from a head wound. Carrick lived in Verdun, Quebec where he had three children and his wife was expecting a fourth. Vincent had 17 years experience as a mason.

Leo O’Connell, boilermaker, 54
September 12, 1941
A resident of Gore St., O’Connell was killed at the Kingston Shipbuilding Company after he was struck by a falling block from a smokestack while building a smokestack on a corvette ship. He was a boilermaker with a wife, a daughter, and two sons serving in the war at the time.

Ross Reid, 51
August 29, 1944
Resident of Moscow, Ontario
Employer: ALCAN
Reid was working in the forge plant, helping to straighten a metal press, when a small piece of metal flew out of position and struck his face and neck. A first nurse could not find a pulse and Reid was declared dead before the ambulance arrived.

Lea Carrick, 50
October 26, 1944
Died when he fell into the drydock on the job at the Kingston Shipbuilding Company. He suffered a head injury and did not regain consciousness. Carrick lived at 56 Lower William Street.

Henry Hegadorn, 73
December 6, 1944
Hegadorn was employed by Ross Asselstine and was busy throwing down feed from a barn loft. Hegadorn slipped and fell 24 feet and died before the ambulance arrived. Napanee’s coroner ruled a cerebral hemorrhage was the cause of death.

Biard B. Embury, engineer
Charles Henry White, fireman
August 10, 1947
CNR steam train suffered a mechanical failure and crashed while traveling 60mph into Kingston station. Engineer Biard B. Embury and fireman Charles Henry White, were scalded to death in the crash. None of the 800 passengers were injured. Embury and White were residents of Belleville.

Stafford Byrnes, 49
December 26, 1950
Byrnes was employed by contractor Thomas L. Grooms during the demolition of the Golden Lion building when an interior partition fell on him on December 21, and fractured his back. He passed away at Kingston General Hospital on December 26.

William Strongman, 61
February 14, 1952
Employed at Strathcona Paper just outside Napanee, Strongman was crushed by rollers and gears.

Albert Mulridge, 41
April 21, 1955
Employer: Kingston Shipyards
Died of injuries at Kingston General hospital after his crane collapsed at Kingston Shipyards

Stewart Hogan, 27
January 16 1959
Employer: Wilmot’s Dairy
While conducting his morning milk deliveries, Stewart Hogan was killed instantly when a freight train collided with his Wilmot’s Dairy truck at the CN rail crossing in Collins Bay. Hogan left behind a wife and three young children.

William Woodcock, 32
January 10, 1961
Woodcock was killed by an automatic sanding machine. He left behind a wife and four children.

Michael J. McGloin, 56
April 29, 1961
48 Connaught Street, Kingston
Employer: ALCAN

John Rankin, 57
July 30, 1965
Employer: Canadian Locomotive Company
Rankin was killed when caught in an electric planer and crushed against the planer and a large diesel engine. He was a resident of Athens and had worked for the Canadian Locomotive Company for 22 years.

Domenico Magisano, 40
June 28, 1966
114 Queen Street, Kingston
Employer: Glen Lawrence Construction Ltd.
Crushed under heavy equipment during 401 construction near Gananoque

Raymond Charles Earl, 53
December 10, 1971
Resident of Cardinal
Employer: Glen Lawrence Construction Ltd.
While operating a 12-ton front-end loader at a McAdoo’s Lane quarry, the vehicle fell off an 18-foot cliff rolled end over end and fatally crushed Earl.

Joseph Baker, 19
December 5, 1972
Employer: Tripp Construction
Baker was fatally injured during construction at the Lennox Generating station when a front-loader reversed over him on November 27. Baker died in Kingston General Hospital on December 5.

Hans Suddergaard, 20
November 30, 1972
Employer: Ziebart Auto Rustproofing
Suddergaard was killed in several explosions at Ziebart Auto Rustproofing on Development Drive. His brother, Ivan, survived but was rushed to Kingston General Hospital with burns. A coroner’s inquest could not determine the cause of the explosion but cited several potentially faulty electrical components, poor ventilation, and excess waste materials as contributing to multiple explosions, fire, and thick black smoke. Suddergaard was a resident of Amherstview.

James Vincent Nugent, 43
January 26, 1973
Employer: York Steel
While working at the Lennox Generating Station in Bath, Nugent was killed by a 40 foot fall from a building. Nugent was a resident of Tweed.

Norman Young, 53
April 30, 1973
Employer: ALCAN
Burned in hydraulic oil fire on April 3 1973; died at Kingston General Hospital, April 30 1973.

Joao Carneiro, roofer, 40
June 19, 1973
Employer: Bothwell Accurate Roofing Company (Ellis Don subcontractor)
Carneiro was killed instantly from a 32-foot fall off the roof of Mackintosh-Corry Hall at Queen’s University while it was under construction. The Ellis Don construction superintendent, Harold Gillespie, said a hoist used to pull material up to the roof broke free and pulled down Carneiro who was operating the hoist. Kingston coroner Stuart Patterson recommended charges against the employer based on violations of the Construction Safety Act. Out of respect or protest, Carneiro’s co-workers refused to show up for work the next day. Carneiro was a resident of Toronto and father of one.

Antonio Silva, 34
May 13, 1977
Employer: Jack Sousa Contractor Ltd.
During the construction of an apartment building in west-end Kingston, a 15-ton crane broke away from its platform and fell on Silva who died instantly. Silva was on a scaffolding pouring cement. Alvar Valente, 30, was also injured and was hospitalized at Hotel Dieu. The jury of the coroner’s inquest found responsible an inferior weld securing the ring-gear on the crane had escaped detection because legislation did not require its inspection. The weld did not meet the standards of either American manufacturing companies that made the ring and the crane. The jury also determined the crane was overloaded. Jack Sousa, who owned the crane, was Silva’s brother-in-law.

Earl Robbins, lineman, 23
October 19, 1977
Employer: Ontario Hydro
Robbins was working on an electrical pole by Highway 401 just east of Highway 15, when a cable being used to pull up another cable was snagged by a passing truck and snapped the pole. Robbins was killed in the fall.

Oakley Vinkle, 53
September 6, 1983
Employer: Ministry of Transportation and Communications
Killed in car accident at worksite

Charles Webster, labourer, 22
November 19, 1985
Resident of Tichborne
Employer: Bob Martin Construction Company
Construction workers Charles Webster and Oliver Bauer, 25, were working on a new apartment building located near Montreal Road on John Counter Boulevard, when a concrete staircase they were standing on collapsed and fell 9 floor, or 100 feet. Both were buried under tons of concrete. Webster was pronounced dead at the scene of multiple injuries, and Bauer, unconscious, was removed from the site a little over two hours later and rushed to Kingston General Hospital where he was stabilized. Webster left behind a wife and daughter.

Francis Leo Nash, truck driver, 58
January 27, 1987
Resident of Marysville
Employer: Canada Cement Lafarge
An employee of 23 years, Nash was fatally struck by tandem dump truck

Egon Holterman, 51
December 7, 1987
525 Macdonnell Street, Kingston
Employer: ALCAN
Killed by compressed air explosion

Stephen Way, 25
October 2, 1988
Resident of Napanee
Employer: Greater Napanee Water Supply and Pollution Control Board
Rendered unconscious by gasoline fumes; drowned at Lift Station near Napanee Mall off Highway 41

Robert Daniel “Dan” Nicholson, 33
September 18, 1993
Resident of Harrowsmith
Employer: Lafarge
An 8-year employee of Lafarge, Nicholson was fatally struck in the head by a rail car’s swinging steel door

Stanley Allan “Al” Veech, 49
April 18, 1994
Employer: Kingston Regional Hospital Laundry
Fell from extension ladder while changing fluorescent light fixtures

Richard “Dick” McAvoy, 51
May 26, 1997
Employer: Queen’s University
A maintenance worker at Queen’s University, McAvoy was operating a riding lawn mower at Queen’s University’s West Campus, when it fell over a 4-foot embankment. The mower flipped and fatally crushed McAvoy.

Wayne Fillion, 37
December 14, 2004
Resident of Perth Road Village
Employer: Canadian American Transportation C.A.T. Inc., Napanee
Killed by debris from exploding acetylene blowtorch

William Wilson, 34
August 27, 2008
Wilson was killed on the job at Lafarge while a contractor with Robinson Industries. The Ministry of Labour and Ontario Provincial Police did not publicly disclose the cause of death.

Jamie Lascelle, 32
May 18, 2010
Died of electrocution at construction worksite in Lyndhurst

Micah Baerwald, 27
June 20, 2021
Employer: Novelis
Died of electrocution during maintenance