David Berman

Family and friends of workers killed on the job hold candles Monday night at a Workers Memorial Day event in North Charleston.

Standing inside North Charleston’s Sterrett Hall on Monday night, Renee Maxwell was about a block away from the docks where her husband Ivan lost his life in a workplace accident in 1998.

“Tomorrow will be 10 years,” Maxwell said quietly, referring to the looming anniversary of her husband’s death.

Maxwell motioned to her 16-year-old son. “This is the first time since it happened that he’s been able to come down here,” she said.

With her children by her side, Maxwell, who lives in Ladson, joined the families and friends of those who went to work and didn’t return home for the area’s first event to coincide with the internationally recognized Workers Memorial Day.

Tina Williamson, of Summerville, was the driving force behind the memorial. Her 18-year-old son Matthew died in 2005 as he was working aboard the USNS Supply.

“It’s terrible why, because of the circumstances, we have to be here,” Williamson told the audience of several dozen friends and family members.

But Williamson said Monday night, just as she has since she started planning the event, that the focus should be on remembering the fallen.

A table, flanked by bright floral wreaths, sat near the stage. On it were family photographs and mementos illuminated by flickering candles.

Spencer Pryor, the master of ceremonies, read letters from Gov. Mark Sanford and State Senate President pro tem Glenn McConnell.

Pryor also read — with the help of Rev. Richard Bello, who in his invocation said that we as humans “realize the brevity of life” — the names of more than 200 local men and women who died on the job.

The names were culled from federal and state Occupational Safety and Health Administration databases and the local police chaplaincy’s records dating back to 2004.

Matthew Williamson and Ivan Maxwell were remembered. So was the late Dorchester County sheriff’s deputy Phillip Michael Deese and members of the Charleston 9.

“It allows you to know you’re not alone,” Maxwell said of the event. “People always say, ‘I know what you’re going through.’ But it’s different if you haven’t lost someone in this manner (at work).”

Sandra Lee, a mental health professional who does grief counseling, said after the memorial that remembrance is important because each time the survivors tell the story of their loved ones, they move closer to healing.

“When it’s done in community, it’s magnified,” Lee said. “People don’t feel alone.”

“That’s what this was about today — a celebration of life,” she said.

Contact David Berman at 873-9424 ext. 214 or dberman@journalscene.com

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