Officials urge safe driving as family plans Swansea construction worker’s funeral
Union and county officials are announcing funeral arrangements for a construction worker who was hit and killed last week in Shiloh and imploring drivers to be careful on the road.
Murphy Rogers, 55, of Swansea, died Friday, June 19, after being struck by a vehicle on southbound Illinois 158, also known as Air Mobility Drive, near its intersection with Maple Street, according to a press release by Shiloh Police Department on Monday.
Local and Illinois State Police are investigating. The minor female driver isn’t being identified.
“RIP sir!” St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern wrote Thursday as part of a Facebook post that included a flyer with East St. Louis funeral arrangements for Rogers. “He was tragically killed in a work zone accident last Friday. Slow down. Pay attention.”
Rogers had been a member of Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 100 in East St. Louis for about 11 years, according to Secretary-Treasurer Trent Abernathy.
“Rest in peace Murphy,” the union posted Thursday on Facebook, along with the flyer on funeral arrangements. “We lost another brother in another work zone accident.
“Please slow down in work zones, we deserve to make it home to our families at the end of our work day.”
Rogers was flagging for DMS Contracting in Mascoutah when he was hit, Abernathy said. The company had been contracted by St. Clair County for the road project.
Company President Matt Stuckenberg didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Arrangements for Rogers include a wake from 10 to 11 a.m. Friday, July 3, at Greater New Covenant Church of God in Christ in East St. Louis with a funeral immediately following. Then a repast will be held at Da Beno Nite Club. People are asked to wear blue, black and silver.
Attempts to reach Rogers’ family were unsuccessful.
According to Abernathy, speeding and careless drivers are an ongoing problem for construction workers employed by government agencies and private contractors, particularly those who work at night.
“I don’t know what we’re going to have to do to get people to slow down in construction zones,” he said.
Another Local 100 member, Dennis Beard, 38, of Pocahontas, a married father of three children, was hit and killed while working construction in 2012 on eastbound Interstate 64, just east of Illinois 159, near St. Clair Square. Three of his coworkers also were injured.
In that case, a West Frankfort coal miner pleaded guilty to driving under the influence after authorities found that he had taken the sleep aid Ambien and an antihistamine before getting behind the wheel. He was sentenced to nine years in prison.
The Shiloh Police Department press release related to Rogers’ death stated that:
- Police responded to a call at 10:48 a.m. Friday, June 19, in reference to a vehicle hitting a construction worker near Air Mobility Drive and Maple Street.
- On arrival, officers began life-saving efforts on Rogers until emergency medical personnel took over.
- Rogers was transported to St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in O’Fallon, where he was pronounced dead.
- Officers made contact with the vehicle’s driver, identified only as a “minor female,” who had non-life-threatening injuries.
- The driver was transported to the police station for questioning.
- Shiloh police called in the Illinois State Police Traffic Crash Reconstruction Unit to help investigate.
“The results of the investigation and toxicology will be submitted to the St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office when it is completed,” the release stated, referring to the office that determines whether people are charged with crimes.
Rogers’ Facebook page lists East St. Louis as his hometown and states that he attended East St. Louis Senior High School and studied at Southwestern Illinois College.
