Three Kent men honored by state during fallen worker ceremony

Three men from Kent were among the 97 fallen workers honored during Washington’s annual Worker Memorial Day ceremony.

Held each April, the event commemorates those who lost their lives on the job in Washington state in previous years, according to a state Department of Labor & Industries’ (L&I) news release. It serves as a reminder that preventable workplace injuries and deaths have a deep impact on the people of Washington state. Of the 97, 29 workers died before last year but were not included in previous ceremonies.

This year’s ceremony was Thursday, April 24 at L&I headquarters in Tumwater.

Rodney Wheeler, Sergey Kubay and Laupule Talaga were the three Kent men who died on the job, according to a L&I spokesperson.

The family of Wheeler sent L&I a tribute that was included in the ceremony’s program. Wheeler died June 30, 2023.

“Rodney was working for the Washington State Department of Transportation as a bridge attendant when he fatally fell from the First Avenue South Bridge in Seattle,” according to the tribute. “He was a constant jokester with a witty personality. He loved cooking, traveling, and adored animals of all kinds. But, there was nothing like Rodney’s love for his three brothers. He took his early role of anchor and protector of the family very seriously.

“In addition to his brothers, Rodney leaves behind his parents, his fiancée, Lavina McClam, and their six children whom he adored. Rodney’s exterior was stern, but his heart was pure. If you judged a book by its cover, you would have missed Rondey’s beautiful, strong, and courageous story that ended far too soon. We’ll miss him forever.”

Kubay was an Amazon delivery driver fatally shot Jan. 25, 2024 in Renton while delivering packages at the Fairwood Pond Apartments, where he was found in the parking lot, according to media reports. He was using his personal vehicle for the deliveries.

Kubay is survived by his wife and two young children, according to a GoFundMe page.

Talaga was fatally shot at the Distinguished Foods kitchen rentals facility in West Seattle on Sept 25, 2024, according to westsideseattle.com. His wife and three children lost him but so did his unborn twins, according to the Oct. 25, 2024 online report.

The names of each of the workers who died were read aloud during the ceremony. Afterward, families were invited to ring the brass bell in the Worker Memorial Garden on the grounds of L&I’s headquarters and speak about their loved ones.

Gov. Bob Ferguson, L&I Director Joel Sacks, and representatives from the Washington State Labor Council, the Association of Washington Business and the mother of a young logger who lost his life at work each spoke at the ceremony.

“The people we’re honoring range in age from 16 to 90,” Sacks said. “They’re men and women from all walks of life who worked in a variety of fields including construction, farming, retail, and health care. They were brothers and fathers, sisters and mothers — an avid hunter, a river guide, a guitar collector, classic car enthusiast, and a social services worker who dedicated his life to helping the homeless. People who contributed to their communities and are deeply missed.”

Of the workers recognized this year, 33 died from exposure to toxic chemicals, the leading cause of death, according to L&I. Thirteen of those had worked at the Hanford Nuclear Site in Richland, where nuclear waste is stored. Others worked as firefighters, pipefitters, or in other industries that work with hazardous chemicals.

“We work so hard to prevent the dangers we can see,” Sacks said. “These tragedies remind us that we cannot ignore the hazards we don’t see — what we breathe and what gets on our clothes can also be deadly.”

Motor vehicle accidents also took the lives of more than a dozen of the workers being recognized, including Washington State Trooper Chris Gadd, who was just 27 years old when a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed crashed into his vehicle parked on the shoulder on March 2, 2024 along Interstate 5 near Marysville.

Gadd was a graduate of Kentlake High School, part of the Kent School District.

This was the 32nd time L&I has held the annual Worker Memorial Day ceremony. It’s one of many events in April honoring fallen workers across the nation.