BOSTON — A veteran Southbridge, Mass., public works employee awaiting the birth of his first grandchild yesterday became one of 35 lives claimed by Tropical Storm Irene — killed as he was heading into work to help with the cleanup of his community after the storm.
Gov. Deval Patrick made the sad and unexpected announcement that Richard V. Gorgone, a 52-year-old father of two, died just before dawn when he grabbed the porch railing at his Southbridge home not realizing it had been electrified by a power line dropped by a fallen tree on his street.
“He was electrocuted,” Patrick said at the Framingham headquarters of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.
Gorgone had worked for Southbridge’s Department of Public Works for 11 years as an equipment maintenance manager and catch-basin cleaner. Public Works Director Tom Daley said he was well-known in town.
“Count your blessings every day. Who could have imagined?” said a heavy-hearted Daley. “He was a good, good guy. He was there every day, doing his job.”
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