It is with heavy heart that IBEW Local 1245 reports the passing of 17-year IBEW 1245 member Jorge Soria, who lost his life in a workplace accident on Aug 24 at the age of 47. Brother Soria, a skilled worker with many years of line clearance tree trimming experience, was working for Davey Tree Surgery in the Boulder Creek area, on a three-man crew performing Tree Mortality and Fire Risk Reduction activities as part of the Catastrophic Event Memorandum Account (CEMA) project, at the time of the accident.
Brother Soria leaves behind his wife, Alicia, four children, Crystal, Monica, George and Mareli, and two grandchildren, Adrian and Joel.
“IBEW Local 1245 mourns the tragic loss of Brother Jorge Soria, and we extend our deepest condolences to his family at home, as well as his extended family in the tree industry,” said IBEW 1245 Business Manager Bob Dean.
“My dad dedicated his life to his family and always worked hard to provide us everything that we needed,” Soria’s daughter, Monica, wrote. “He knew the risk that he would take every single day just to get our family get on in life. His whole world was my mom, his 4 kids, and 2 grandchildren and everyone saw that in him.”
CalOSHA, Davey Tree and PG&E have begun assembling their teams to determine what happened, and Local 1245 will also be there to assist in these investigations.
“As we remember the life of Brother Soria and try to process this terrible accident, we all need to reflect on our own lives and families as well,” said IBEW 1245 Senior Assistant Business Manager Ralph Armstrong. “This devastating loss serves as a another stark reminder that the work our members perform each day for the safe delivery of reliable power can be unforgiving.”
“There is nothing more important than the safety of each and every one of our members and their families,” added Dean. “In honor of Jorge’s memory, we must re-commit to being our brother’s keeper, and do everything in our power to make sure everyone comes home from work the same way they left each morning.”
UPDATE 8.30: The family has started a GoFundMe, please contribute what you can using the link below.
The viewing will be Sept. 6 from 5-8 pm at Holy Trinity Church (27 South Camino Real, Greenfield CA). Mass will be at 10am on Sept. 7 at Holy Trinity Church. The funeral will follow.
More details will be posted here when they become available.