Worker dies in electrical accident
Dwight Roberts
Posted: Thursday, July 30, 2015
From staff reports
Thoughts and prayers are with the family of 52-year-old Dwight Roberts, an employee of Elliott Electric, Inc., after an unfortunate accident led to his death Wednesday afternoon, according to a statement released by Thomas R. Elliott Jr., CEO of Elliott Electric in South Boston.
“First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Dwight Roberts, Scott Powell, his immediate co-worker, and the employees of Elliott Electric, Inc. in this tragic moment,” the statement continued.
“We are in the process of performing our own investigation as well as cooperating with state and federal authorities,” Elliott said.
“No one wants answers more than Elliott Electric, Inc. We lost a valuable employee, but more importantly we lost a good friend. He will be missed,” the statement concluded.
Roberts, who lived on Whitlow Trail in South Boston, loved his job at Elliott Electric, according to his mother, Jerri Morton of Burkeville.
“Elliott Electric, Inc. thought a lot of him too, and they had been so good to him,” Roberts’ mother said.
She said she didn’t know exactly what happened to cause her son’s death.
He had been working at a water plant in Lawrenceville for quite some time, and Wednesday while working on a transformer, he was electrocuted, she added.
It was Powell, known as “Gator,” who pulled Roberts from the current, according to Roberts’ mother.
“Gator” and Roberts had worked together almost every day, and he knew Roberts personally as he was dating Roberts’ daughter, Martie, according to Morton, who added, “Gator said it was the worst day of his life.”
She said her son had been doing what he enjoyed doing, electrical work.
“He loved his job, and Elliott’s had been so good to him and his family,” his mother reiterated. “They’re (Elliott Electric owner and employees) still in such a state of shock.”
The last time Morton said she spent time with her son was the weekend of July 4 when Morton held the giant yard sale that stretched from Burkeville to South Boston.
Dwight spent the entire weekend with her staying until Sunday.
During that busy time, she said Roberts had “worked like a dog” because it rained on the yard sale tents Friday night, and he had spent all night dumping water out of tents, so they’d be ready for use the next day.
On Sunday, July 5, she remembers hugging her son goodbye, the last time she would have that opportunity.
On Thursday, Roberts’ children, grandchildren, mother and siblings gathered at his home to remember their loved one as they awaited completion of his autopsy.
As of press time Thursday, they were hopeful his body would be released that afternoon.
Brooks Lyon Funeral Home will be handling funeral arrangements for the family.