Mary Jane Bish, left, accompanies her friend, Linda Guz, to the annual Steelworkers Memorial service in Weirton. Guz’s father, Andrew, was killed in a 1972 explosion at Weirton Steel’s Brown’s Island coke plant. -- Linda Harris

A pipe shop foreman at Weirton Steel, Rudy Bonovich knew how easy it would be to get hurt — or worse — in the mill.

Yet nothing prepared the Bonovich family for the day Rudy didn’t make it home. He’d been working in the tin mill when a lid closed on his head.

“He was the most safety conscious person ever, it was just unbelievable,” she said. “I still can’t believe it.”

On Thursday, dozens of area residents joined United Steelworkers union leaders in Weirton and Steubenville to remember workers who were killed on the job at Weirton and Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel.

William Sharp, a Weirton resident, pauses to remember his father-in-law, Winfield “Big Ben” Dunham, who fell more than 40 feet to his death in 1971 at Weirton Steel. -- Linda Harris

“Not a day goes by when I walk through certain parts of the mill that I don’t think about an individual, or individuals” who lost their lives there, USW Local 2911 President Mark Glyptis told the crowd gathered in front of the Steelworkers Memorial in downtown Weirton. “Those who lost their lives in the mill will never be forgotten.”

The Steelworkers Memorial lists the names of all 120 workers killed on the job at Weirton, Safety Coordinator Darrell Curtis said. The first name on the list, Lewis Casey, died 100 years ago, on April 11, 1919.

The last, Marvin Clifton, a railroad brakeman, lost his life on Oct. 16, 1999. In between were 118 other names, every one of them remembered during the service.

“They were all people who went to work, tried to make a living and support their families as best they could,” Curtis said. “Unfortunately, something happened.”

Dorsey Garret, a retired construction foreman, was working the day in 1971 when Winfield Dunham fell from a crossbeam being erected in the Steel Works department.

“Ben was 61,” said Garret, describing himself as one of the “young pups” working back then even though he’d turned 31 a few weeks earlier. “He was given the job of going up on the roof — they considered that a task for the older vets to do. He fell, probably 40 or 45 feet, landing on (the exposed rails and other materials that had been brought in for) a new railroad spur being put in.”

Dunham died the following day.

“He was a massive man,” Garret said. “I worked with a lot of men with colorful nicknames,” he said. “To this day, I couldn’t tell you what all their real names were.

“I just want to thank Big Ben and all the other vets on behalf of all the young pups, for schooling us and teaching us all how to make a living.”

Richard Campoli, controller for USA Finance and the son of a steelworker, told the crowd the workers listed on the memorial “were not just names, they were all special individuals with family, friends and colleagues who came in to work with thoughts of going home. Unfortunately, they didn’t go home.”

Campoli said their deaths “involved molten metals, crushing injuries, falls, explosions, even a plane crash.”

“Now, you have a plant with over half of the employees (new hires),” he said, saying its incumbent on management and union to “take the opportunity to engage them in safety programming and training.

“Look to the lessons learned from those who have passed and look for the safest way going forward and doing (your) jobs.”

Glyptis said on-the-job fatalities “should never happen in any plant, it should never happen here, and we’ll do our very best to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“May we never forget,” Curtis added. “And may we say a prayer for the ones who work today.”

Steubenville’s memorial service, held in front of the steelworker statue across from the library on South Fourth Street, brought together many of Local 1190’s leaders from over the years.

“It’s a remembrance for our forefathers who lost their lives and got maimed,” said organizer Carmen DeStefano, at one time the president of Local 1190. “They built this facility, they built this union. We’re just paying tribute to the people who lost their lives and were maimed at Wheeling-Pitt over the years. We don’t want to forget them.”

The crowd that assembled also used the occasion to memorialize the late Santo Santoro, longtime union leader who died in July after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. In addition to serving as president of Local 1190, Santoro also had been a USW district representative. Santoro’s wife, Kathy, daughter Dr. Kimberly Miller, son Kevin, brother Joe and nephew, Robbie, were in attendance.

“Family, that’s what we’re about,” Kathy Santoro said before the service. “And you guys are an extension of ours.”

USW staff representative John Saunders said Wheeling-Pitt had been a great place to work.

“Look at what we made here, the lifestyle it produced,” he said. “This was a good company when it was Wheeling-Pitt. People made a great living, it was a good place to work. Friendships may be all we’ve got left.”