Early pioneers Bloxham and Gertje join Morgan and Clausen as additions to Fallen Worker Memorial
Four names have been added to the ITD Fallen Worker Memorial, representing two early pioneers in the road-building effort of the early 1960s, plus one from the ‘90s and a recent employee. The additions to the wall came from continuing research and input from districts.
The four names were added to the original 30 names displayed on the memorial wall. Check here for the original story and list,
G.W. Bloxham, who was killed on the job in late 1960, and Gary Gertje, who died in 1961, are the two early pioneers. Here are their stories:
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Glenn Wakley Bloxham
Pocatello was shocked on Dec. 21, 1960 to hear that one of its friendliest employees, Glenn Wakley Bloxham, Equipment Operator, met his death while operating a loader at one of the district’s stockpiles at McCammon, Idaho. It was a rollover accident. He was 45.
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Gary Lawrence Gertje
Gertje, 22, of Kendrick, an Idaho State Highway Department survey crew member, was killed Dec. 6, 1961. He died en route to Grangeville General Hospital, likely of injuries he received in a fall on Whitebird Hill.
The death occurred while the crew was marking preliminary surveys of Whitebird Hill for the proposed re-routing of U.S. Highway 95 in that area. Members of the crew told highway officials at Lewiston that they were climbing the north side of the hill overlooking the Camas Prairie when they looked back and saw Gertje lying on the ground.
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Dennis Dale Morgan
Morgan, employed by ITD’s District 4 (Shoshone) office, died May 16, 1994 in Boise on ITD business. He was 49.
Morgan began working as a summer employee for the department in 1969, and was the district’s Data Processing Coordinator at the time of his passing. He was in Boise for a meeting representing ITD, did not arrive for the meeting, and was found dead in his motel room.
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Kenneth Duane Clausen
Clausen, designer of several landmark Idaho bridges, died March 27, 2016 on his way home from work at age 56. He started with ITD in 1984 in American Falls as an Engineer-in-Training, then moved to Boise. He worked in the Bridge section for the remainder of his outstanding career.
Published 02-22-19