Hunt’s name was added to the monument in Corner Brook (Newfoundland & Labrador) which recognizes the people who lost their lives in industrial accidents. It is the gathering place for the annual Day of Mourning ceremony.
Gloria Hunt said she was not aware the monument and ceremony existed until this year. Her daughter Collette Lewis was told about it by a friend, who also had a family member’s name added to the monument.
Hunt said her husband, a boom truck operator, died after he let the straps go on a load of lumber which fell on him. He died June 21, 1996.
The widow said she was very happy to see her husband’s name etched on the monument. She said his death has been a difficult thing to deal with.
“You just learn to live and deal with what happened to you,” she said.
Lewis, whose daughter Sara placed the wreath on behalf of the family, said the ceremony held Saturday (April 28) was beautiful. She was just 21 when her father died.
“Losing your dad, it’s tough,” she said. “This is now a place that every year we can come, a special place that you can come and recognize him for what he did. He went out in to the workforce to provide for his family, and then he was taken away.”
Meanwhile, Jim O’Neill, chair of the event, said that is exactly the purpose of the ceremony and monument found on Mill Road across from Corner Brook Pulp and Paper’s main office.
“The object of this day is to publicly renew the commitment to fight for the safety of people in their everyday lives, as well as to mourn for those workers who died in workplace accidents and occupational-related diseases,” he said. “It is hoped that the annual observance of this day reinforce the determination to continue the need and the practice of safe conditions in the workplace for all.
O’Neill said everybody must work together to make work environments safe.
“The workers monument here is a testament to the workers who have paid the ultimate price for unsafe work conditions and mistakes that could have been put right before it was too late,” he said.
Western Star
