Ketchikan colleagues mourn landslide victim Sean Griffin

3 weeks ago

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A agelong statement of garbage trucks, electrical repair vehicles, occurrence engines and constabulary cars idled extracurricular nan Ketchikan Mortuary past week arsenic they waited to travel landslide victim Sean Griffin’s remains to nan airport.

The dozens of metropolis vehicles formed a convoy Aug. 27 to grant nan longtime nationalist useful employee. Griffin was nan only personification killed by nan descent 2 days earlier, while helping clear large wind drains connected his time off.

Sven Westergard is nan adjunct business head for nan section International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers section wherever Griffin was a member. He said he knew him from increasing up successful nan aforesaid town, but they really became friends erstwhile they started moving together.

Westergard said Griffin didn’t for illustration being successful nan spotlight, thing he recalled joking astir connected nan time of nan procession.

“We were like, ‘Holy cow, this is amazing,’” Westergard said. “And it was like, ‘Well, Sean would beryllium grumbling astir him being nan beforehand of attention.’”

Griffin started his profession pinch nan metropolis moving arsenic a coagulated discarded collector. Westergard said he had a bully consciousness of humor, and helped commencement a contented of giving residents a thumbs-up while driving garbage trucks done town.

“I deliberation they sewage pulled connected nan carpet 1 clip because they thought they were really for illustration flipping group off,” Westergard said. “So past it proceeded to 1 aliases 2 of nan crews, to nan full garbage crew, to everybody successful nan metropolis was driving astir giving each different thumbs-up.”

In his 17 years of nationalist service, Griffin had progressed from a trash collector to an operator, past moved to beryllium a thoroughfare attraction technician, and had precocious been promoted to elder attraction technician. But Westergard said Griffin ever looked retired for colleagues who were conscionable getting started.

“Sean benignant of took a batch of those guys nether his helping and helped them out,” Westergard said. “And now they’ve moved connected to different occupation opportunities and immoderate of them are moving beautiful large companies, each conscionable because of nan commencement they had.”

Brian Gilson worked pinch Griffin for 12 years successful nan coagulated discarded department.

“He could activity circles astir everybody he worked with. He didn’t awkward distant from thing hard,” Gilson said. “So his activity ethic is astir apt 1 of nan champion retired there.”

That activity ethic and committedness to his colleagues explicate why nan 42-year-old Griffin went to thief retired nan streets unit connected a time he wasn’t expected to beryllium working. A monolithic landslide tore done Ketchikan connected Sunday, Aug. 25, taking Griffin’s life and destroying respective homes.

His coworker Chris Riley was injured successful nan descent and taken to nan hospital, but nan City of Ketchikan recently announced that he is recovering good and expected to beryllium released soon.

Gilson said Griffin was a family man, and ever prioritized taking attraction of his 4 boys and wife, Sarah.

Griffin was an outdoorsman, and some Gilson and Westergard talked astir really overmuch he liked moving connected cars — that he could return a bunch of aged parts and build them into a functioning vehicle.

Westergard said he’ll retrieve Griffin arsenic a awesome feline who could ever cheer him up astatine nan correct time.

“Being retired connected nan roadworthy aliases doing thing and conscionable having a crap time and each of a sudden, here’s nan honk and thumbs up aliases nan goofy remark disconnected to nan side,” he said.

Westergard said 1 of nan awesome things astir Ketchikan is nan shared worth of looking retired for 1 another.

“It’s now much important because there’s going to beryllium a batch of families and friends that are hurting complete this, and it’s gonna beryllium a agelong haul for Ketchikan to recover,” Westergard said. “And truthful I conscionable dream that everybody keeps that successful mind and, you know, support an oculus retired for each other.”