Runaway cement truck kills worker
Just after 5 p. m. on Oct. 21, 1929, about a half- mile south of Port Robinson, Folco Paolozzi was laying down planks of wood to be used as a slide for concrete in building a culvert on the west side of the Welland Ship Canal.
A Ford truck had arrived with a load of concrete that was to be moved down the bank. Paolozzi was positioned about 1.07 metres below the crest of the sloping embankment where it met the towpath road. He was directly below the truck which had backed within 0.46 metres of the edge.
Suddenly, without warning, the truck fell down the slope. The vehicle and its load crushed Paolozzi against a large rock. The impact “killed him instantly” according to the engineer- incharge’s report.
Paolozzi was born in Colle San Magno, Italy, 108 kilometres southeast of Rome. He married Vincenza Murro in February 1908. By 1910, Paolozzi had travelled to Canada looking for work. Murro had family in Toronto. Paolozzi’s first stint in Canada was short- lived, but he returned in 1912 with his wife and threeyearold son, Evangelist, and secured steady work as a labourer. Paolozzi became a naturalized citizen of Canada in 1914.
By 1921, the Paolozzis were living in Thorold and Folco was working at a paper mill. He and Vincenza now had three children — Evangelist ( Listy), Fortunata Christina ( Tena), Giovanni ( John). In 1929, he was employed by Alfred E. Rigby’s Ontario Construction Co. Ltd., a subcontractor working on the Welland Ship Canal.
Paolozzi’s tragic death was reported as a pure accident. According to the division engineer, E. P. Johnson, “The motor of the truck was stopped and the emergency brake was set. The driver had dismounted and the truck had been standing still for about three minutes when it began to move backwards.” The driver noticed the impending danger and shouted a warning. But it came too late.
As a testament to the type of man Paolozzi was, the Welland– Port Colborne Evening Tribune stated, “Paolozzi had a splendid reputation with both the contractors and the Welland Ship Canal authorities. He was stated to be not only a first- class workman but also very steady and trustworthy.”
Paolozzi was laid to rest at Lakeview Cemetery on Oct. 24, 1929. Vincenza remarried in 1959 to Vincenzo Ricci, who died in 1962. Vincenza died in 1981 and is buried beside both of her husbands in the Thorold cemetery. — This article is part of a series remembering the men whose lives were lost in the construction of the Welland Ship Canal. A memorial to honour the men was unveiled in November. The Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial is at
Lock 3 next to St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre. To learn more visit www. stcatharines. ca/canalworkersmemorial.