CPOPE
08-06-2007, 07:48 AM
Worker's death stuns family
Investigation into electrocution expected to be completed soon.
YONIKA WILLIS
Tribune Staff Writer
http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070802/News01/708020324/0/SPORTS
MISHAWAKA — Tom Deal loved working in his yard and Notre Dame football. He loved NASCAR and wolves, but his biggest love was his family, his wife Marcia Deal said
Deal, a Mishawaka Utilities worker, died Tuesday morning after falling into a transformer box at an unfinished home in the Reverewood subdivision.
An autopsy Tuesday afternoon showed Deal died accidentally by ectrocution.
"I just don't know what I'm going to do without him," Marcia Deal told The Tribune Wednesday.
Tom Deal leaves behind a 23-year-old daughter, an 11-year-old son and a 30-year-old stepson.
"He was a very meticulous family man who loved his children," Marcia Deal said.
"Tom has been actively involved in our son Chase's life," she said. "Our son has been wrestling since first grade. He (Tom) was down at the high school three times a week practicing with him."
Just days ago, Deal and his youngest son went to the parks department to pick up Chase's gear for the upcoming football season.
Now their 11-year-old son is trying to be so grown up and strong, Marcia Deal said, and their daughter told Marcia that her father's death comes right after she had gotten so close to him.
Authorities are unsure what caused Deal to fall and hit his head in the two top loads of the electrical box that had between 100 and 900 amps of electricity running through them.
Deal, 50, had arrived at the house at 2025 Bennington Drive about 10 a.m. Tuesday.
"He said he was going to disconnect the power to the house," recalled Mike Hopper, a sider with Creative Exteriors, who also was working on the home Tuesday. "The next thing I knew, he was sitting headfirst in the transformer box."
Another utilities worker pulled Deal from the transformer box that sits at the end of the property.
Crews tried resuscitating him before he was taken to an area hospital, but Deal was pronounced dead at 10:40 a.m., according to a police report.
Nearby workers and residents don't recall hearing any odd noises before the incident.
Mindy Watford, who lives across from the unfinished home, ushered her kids inside Tuesday when they saw Deal's body on the ground.
"It was just really sad," Watford said. "A ton of people were down here. Men were crying."
Now, a routine investigation into the incident is ongoing at Mishawaka Utilities, said general manager, Jim Schrader.
Schrader expects the investigation to be completed within a day or two.
Deal worked for the department for 27 years, and, his wife said, he recently had been talking about what he wanted to do when he retired.
"I've just been so blessed to have had the time with him that I had," Marcia Deal said.
This is the first electrocution of a utilities worker that Schrader can remember.
Grief counselors were available to employees Wednesday morning at the office on 12th Street where Deal worked.
"It's tough for us to accept that it happened," Schrader said Wednesday, "but it has."
Investigation into electrocution expected to be completed soon.
YONIKA WILLIS
Tribune Staff Writer
http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070802/News01/708020324/0/SPORTS
MISHAWAKA — Tom Deal loved working in his yard and Notre Dame football. He loved NASCAR and wolves, but his biggest love was his family, his wife Marcia Deal said
Deal, a Mishawaka Utilities worker, died Tuesday morning after falling into a transformer box at an unfinished home in the Reverewood subdivision.
An autopsy Tuesday afternoon showed Deal died accidentally by ectrocution.
"I just don't know what I'm going to do without him," Marcia Deal told The Tribune Wednesday.
Tom Deal leaves behind a 23-year-old daughter, an 11-year-old son and a 30-year-old stepson.
"He was a very meticulous family man who loved his children," Marcia Deal said.
"Tom has been actively involved in our son Chase's life," she said. "Our son has been wrestling since first grade. He (Tom) was down at the high school three times a week practicing with him."
Just days ago, Deal and his youngest son went to the parks department to pick up Chase's gear for the upcoming football season.
Now their 11-year-old son is trying to be so grown up and strong, Marcia Deal said, and their daughter told Marcia that her father's death comes right after she had gotten so close to him.
Authorities are unsure what caused Deal to fall and hit his head in the two top loads of the electrical box that had between 100 and 900 amps of electricity running through them.
Deal, 50, had arrived at the house at 2025 Bennington Drive about 10 a.m. Tuesday.
"He said he was going to disconnect the power to the house," recalled Mike Hopper, a sider with Creative Exteriors, who also was working on the home Tuesday. "The next thing I knew, he was sitting headfirst in the transformer box."
Another utilities worker pulled Deal from the transformer box that sits at the end of the property.
Crews tried resuscitating him before he was taken to an area hospital, but Deal was pronounced dead at 10:40 a.m., according to a police report.
Nearby workers and residents don't recall hearing any odd noises before the incident.
Mindy Watford, who lives across from the unfinished home, ushered her kids inside Tuesday when they saw Deal's body on the ground.
"It was just really sad," Watford said. "A ton of people were down here. Men were crying."
Now, a routine investigation into the incident is ongoing at Mishawaka Utilities, said general manager, Jim Schrader.
Schrader expects the investigation to be completed within a day or two.
Deal worked for the department for 27 years, and, his wife said, he recently had been talking about what he wanted to do when he retired.
"I've just been so blessed to have had the time with him that I had," Marcia Deal said.
This is the first electrocution of a utilities worker that Schrader can remember.
Grief counselors were available to employees Wednesday morning at the office on 12th Street where Deal worked.
"It's tough for us to accept that it happened," Schrader said Wednesday, "but it has."