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The St. Petersburg man, who worked near Ybor City, was caught in a metal lathe and died from his injuries.
By DONG-PHUONG NGUYEN and MIKE BRASSFIELD
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 9, 2002
Gordon Moffat planned to go fishing in Tampa Bay today. Instead, his family is planning a funeral for the 65-year-old St. Petersburg grandfather who died in an accident Friday at the Tampa machine shop where he worked.
Moffat apparently got caught in a metal lathe shortly after starting his shift at the Vincent Corp. at 2810 E Fifth Ave. in the Ybor City area, Tampa police said.
He started work about 7 a.m. Two workers near his area noticed he was missing from his work station about 8:30 a.m. When they got closer to his work area, they saw that his body had been pulled into the machine, said police spokesman Joe Durkin.
Moffat had been employed at the company for about five years and was working on the machine alone. He fed metal sheets into the machine, which then created grooves in the metal, Durkin said.
Friends and relatives described Moffat as a sweet-natured gentleman who loved to fish and loved his wife -- the woman he still called his "bride."
"Every day since we were married, he still called me that," said Debbie Moffat, his wife of six years. "He'd call from work and say, "How's my beautiful bride?' "
Gordon Moffat retired from the Navy after 20 years and moved to St. Petersburg from Groton, Conn., in 1995. He loved the Florida heat.
"The hotter it got, the better he liked it," said his friend Glenda Richardson. "He was one of a kind, as caring a person as you would ever want to meet."
Moffat leaves behind four children and five grandchildren. His friends were baffled by Friday's accident because they said Moffat was always safety conscious, even while working on his beloved fishing boat, Ace in the Hole.
"He loved the water," said his friend, Jim Bergeron. "He was a very simple, good-hearted man."
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident.
The Vincent Corp. employs about 50 workers and manufactures machines for the pulp and paper, citrus, and plastic recycling industries, according to the company's Web site. Company officials didn't return a phone call for comment Friday.
"He was perfect. He's going to be missed," said Debbie Moffat. "Why does God take the good ones?"
- Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report.