MnDOT Remembers Workers Who Have Died on the Job

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Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A ceremony was held this morning at the Minnesota Department of Transportation Maintenance Facility in Rochester in commemoration of Worker Memorial Day.

MnDOT Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger was among the officials scheduled to participate in the event, which takes place every year to remember Department of Transportation employees who have died on the job.

35 MnDOT workers and 16 contractors have lost their lives while working on Minnesota highways. The following list is of the seven people from southeastern Minnesota who died due to highway work-related incidents.

• John Biever: Mr. Biever was working on a bridge on Highway 16 when he was hit by a truck on September 13, 1962.
• Eugene Mitchell: Mr. Mitchell died working for MnDOT while in District 6 on April 23, 1964.
• Earl D. Held: Mr. Held died while on a survey crew. He was on Highway 65 when three of the four men were struck by an automobile on October 30, 1964.
• Roy Carls: Mr. Carls was on his way home from a meeting when his vehicle left the road and hit a bridge abutment. He died on March 2, 1968.
• Jerry Holter: Mr. Holter was struck and run over by a truck while performing inspection duties on October 16, 1973.
• Grayston Cain: Mr. Cain lost his life when he was struck by a truck while he was performing inspection duties on August 28, 1980.
• Thomas Schmit: Mr. Schmit fell from a falsework deck suspended under a bridge and drowned in the Mississippi River on October 21, 1994.