Griffin Pipe worker killed in industrial accident identified
Contributed
Jesse Horsley
Posted: Thursday, August 11, 2016 2:07 pm
Eleanor Roy
Lynchburg, Virginia
The family of a man killed in an industrial accident Wednesday night at a city foundry described him as hard working and full of life Thursday as they struggled to come to terms with his death.
Jesse Horsley, 56, of Fenwick Drive in Lynchburg, died Wednesday night following an incident at Griffin Pipe Products Co., according his family and Lynchburg Police.
The Lynchburg Police Department responded to the company’s downtown location, 10 Adams St., at about 9 p.m., Lt. Malcolm Booker said.
“There does not appear to be any foul play at this time,” Booker said in a phone interview Thursday morning.
A police department news issued Thursday night said Horsley was entrapped by a fallen piece of scrap metal. An autopsy revealed Horsley’s cause of death was mechanical asphyxia and the manner of death was accidental, according to Traci Cooper, district administrator for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Roanoke.
A representative for the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry did not respond to an inquiry Thursday about a possible investigation. No one responded to phone messages left at U.S. Pipe Co., the company that owns Griffin Pipe.
Sheila Horsley, 61, said her husband Jesse Horsley worked at Griffin Pipe and contracted as a newspaper carrier for The News & Advance for several years. She learned of his death late Wednesday.
“He was such a good husband,” Sheila Horsley said Thursday afternoon at her home, surrounded by friends and family who came to console her. “Even when he was tired or something, he was still smiling.”
The Horsley residence’s phone practically rang off the hook as condolences poured in, some from people Sheila Horsley said she has not spoken to in years.
“He was full of life. Everybody loved him,” she said.
The couple would have celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary March 7, 2017. They had no children together, but Sheila Horsley said her husband treated her four children like his own.
Sheila Horsley’s sister, Gail Scott, and her longtime friend Priscilla Giles described Jesse Horsley as a man with an unwavering work ethic. Over the years, Jesse Horsley was employed at several local companies, including Westover Dairy, Flowers Bakery, Tri Tech Laboratories, Shakers Restaurant and McDonald’s.
“We’re the baby boomers, and that’s the way we were raised to work,” Giles said. “You work for your own. You take care of your family.”
The last time she saw Jesse Horsley was during one of many cookouts the group had together.
“It was just a joy to sit there and watch Jesse eat, because he loved eating,” Giles recalled, laughing.
Bishop Motley G. Davis of Higher Heights Cathedral of Deliverance on Lakeside Drive, where the Horsleys attended church, said he appreciated how Jesse Horsley would greet him on Sundays — always dressed in a snappy suit that matched his wife.
“I never saw this man with his clothes out of place,” Davis said.
Giles chimed in that the matching outfits were a sign of the couple’s helpless romanticism.
“They were still in love!” Giles exclaimed as several others nodded in agreement. “They were still in that sweetheart love.”
The last time Davis saw Jesse Horsley was two Sundays ago during church service.
“We had a time. Hands lifted, praising, the worship,” Davis said. “He gave me the greatest hug after.”
Sheila Horsley’s last interaction with her husband was when he left for work Wednesday.
“He kissed me and went on to work,” she recalled, reaching for her cell phone. “I keep wanting to call him.”
Sheila Horsley pulled up a text message with a few lines of scripture she sent her husband every day.
The last line read, “love u baby.”
She smiled, explaining she felt like God prepared her for Jesse Horsley’s death by allowing her to have so much time with him.
“He was such a loving man, I tell you what.”