Vigil honors lives of slain Molson Coors workers
Milwaukeeans gathered Monday evening to remember husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, friends, co-workers and neighbors lost in the Molson Coors tragedy.
The men who died last week were all those things, and that’s how they were memorialized at a Near West Side Community Vigil at Church of the Gesu — not as victims of violence, but for how they lived their lives.
Six Molson Coors brewery employees were killed Wednesday: Dale Hudson, 60, of Waukesha; Dana Walk, 57, of Delafield; Gennady “Gene” Levshetz, 61, of Mequon; and Jesse Valle Jr. and Trevor Wetselaar, both 33 and from Milwaukee. The shooter, Anthony Ferrill, 51, killed himself.
As their names were read — though not Ferrill’s — a bell solemnly tolled and people walked silently to the front of the church to light candles placed in large bowls filled with sand.
Before the event started, an organist played soothing music as folks filtered into the large church on the Marquette University campus. Visitors could print the name of someone they wanted to be
remembered on small white pieces of paper to be read during the ceremony. Those names were read after the Molson Coors victims.
The setting sun shone through beautiful stained glass windows, including one showing Jesus Christ ascending to heaven, casting colored light on the pews.
As part of the litany for the community, the Rev. Lisa Bates-Froiland of nearby Redeemer Lutheran Church said, “We gather as neighbors in response to a shared trauma.” And the crowd answered, “shoulder to shoulder, we bear the burden of violence and loss of life.”
Bates-Froiland said, “We gather as neighbors who have joined the sad family of mass shooting survivors.” And they answered, “Human to human, we affirm shared values of connection, mutual respect, and understanding.”
Molson Coors employee Byron Johnson wore his gray work shirt, spoke in heartbreaking words about the loss of his co-workers, and held up the pair of blue rubber work gloves he wore on that horrible Wednesday.
“I return to work tomorrow with pride and dignity, the same pride and dignity I feel when I put on my uniform every day,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he looked forward to reuniting with co-workers who also take pride in their skill of making beer. But it will be with a heavy heart that Johnson will pass by the spot where his co-workers “took their last breaths,” he said.
Acknowledging worries over the coronavirus outbreak spreading through the world and America, Bates-Froiland encouraged attendees to greet each other during the traditional sharing of peace with hands over their hearts instead of shaking hands. But many hugged and grasped hands, smiling at each other.
District 3 Police Commander Jeffrey Norman reminded the crowd that they — the neighborhoods near the sprawling brewery, the families and co-workers of the slain employees and all Milwaukeeans — must come together to heal from the tragedy.
“Please remember — being Milwaukee Strong is a collaborative effort,” Norman said.