Star baseball player electrocuted on the job
Three men were killed near Bridge No. 9 in Thorold on June 19, 1930.
They were linemen employed in ship canal work who were electrocuted when the ladder they were positioning came in contact with a live wire. The men were Lloyd Tice, Sheldon Hansler and Edward Smith.
Lloyd Burton Tice was born to Bert and Anna ( Fooks) Tice on Nov. 14, 1904, in their family home on Port Robinson Road in Fonthill. Lloyd was their only child.
Tice was educated at Fonthill Public School and attended Fonthill United Church where he was active in its Sunday school program. His greatest passion, however, was baseball.
He became the pitcher of the Welland Indians in his early 20s and soon found himself one of the most respected ball players in the region, earning the affectionate nickname Bricky, in reference to his large build. He was considered the best pitcher the league had seen in years, and was a fan favourite and focus of attention of sports writers, chastised only when he failed to live up to their high expectations.
One of Tice’s best performances would come less than a year before his death, on Aug. 1, 1929. The Indians were playing Niagara Falls, a much more experienced team. The Niagara players came out with a vengeance, but Tice held them back as long as he could. He rang up 11 strikeouts in five innings before the game was called, with the score at 7- 3 for Niagara. Despite the defeat, Tice was roundly praised in the papers, the game being lost by “deplorable work in the outfield” by the Indians.
While Tice enjoyed a promising baseball career, since August 1928 he had been employed as a lineman for the Department of Railways and Canals. After having been laid off in May 1930, Tice was called back to work on June 17.
Two days later, his crew was tasked with moving hydro lines from their wooden poles to the new metal towers running along the Welland Ship Canal. The wooden ladders provided by the department were strengthened by steel wire up the sides, notwithstanding how dangerous this could be when working with electricity.
While Tice, Smith and Hansler were manoeuvring their ladder early that June morning, a strong wind blew it into a live circuit that sent 22,000 fatal volts through their bodies, killing them instantly. Tice’s mother was beside her son when all efforts at resuscitation were suspended at 4: 30 p. m.
After the accident that particular style of ladder was discontinued for canal electrical work.
Tice’s funeral was held several days later and was said to be one of the largest ever in Fonthill. Family, friends and fans all stood around his plot in Fonthill Cemetery, listening to pastors Dilts and Woods and remembering the boy nicknamed Bricky with big dreams and a wicked pitching arm.
— This article is part of a series remembering the men whose lives were lost in construction of the Welland Ship Canal. The Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial was unveiled in November 2017 at Lock 3 next to St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre. www.stcatharines.ca/canalworkersmemorial