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A 54-year-old Bell Canada worker whose death is being investigated by the federal Department of Labor was a funny, hard-working man with a “huge heart,” her daughters say.
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Calvi Leon • Woodstock Local Journalism Initiative reporter Paul Totten, 54, is remembered by his daughters as a hardworking, humorous animal lover who cared deeply about others. He holds his granddaughter Luna. Totten died Monday after falling from a ladder while working for Bell Canada in Tillsonburg. (Photo sent)
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A 54-year-old Bell Canada worker whose death is being investigated by the federal Department of Labor was a funny, hard-working man with a “huge heart,” her daughters say.
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Paulstten of Woodstock died Monday morning after falling several feet from a staircase while working on a utility line at Delevan Crescent, between Second and Third Streets in the town of Tillsonburg, southeast of Tillsonburg. London. Totten worked for Bell Technical Solutions, a subsidiary of Bell Canada, for more than 20 years. He was “a hard worker” who loved helping customers, said his daughter, Shelby Schneider.
“When I think of my dad, I think of how hard he was a hard worker,” he said during a phone interview, his voice drowned out by emotion.
Her other daughter, 23-year-old Emily James, recalled when her father returned home from work “brilliant” due to compliments from clients.
“They loved it,” he said. “He offered amazing service to everyone he worked for.”
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It wasn’t just a technician job, he said. “It’s so much more, for him.”
Delevan Crescent residents in Tillsonburg laid flowers in memory of Paul Totten, a 54-year-old Bell Canada coach who died Monday after falling from a ladder while working on power lines in front of one of the houses. .
Emergency crews who responded to a “non-traffic accident” in Delevan shortly after 11 a.m. Monday determined that the technician working at the site was “injured in a crash,” Oxford said. OPP.
Totten, 54, was taken to hospital where he died.
Canada’s Employment and Social Development program is investigating death, a requirement of Canada’s labor code when there is a federally regulated job, a spokesman said.
“The Government of Canada extends its deepest condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the victim of the fatal incident,” said Marie Terrien.
A Bell Canada official said the company was “deeply saddened” by the sudden death and was “working closely with authorities to investigate the incident.”
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Totten, described as a “total animal lover,” lived in Woodstock with his cat and two dogs. “He absolutely loved his dogs. He might even like them more than humans,” James said. Asked about his father’s personality, James noted his sense of humor. The last two things Totten had told him, once in a text message and once in person, were jokes, he said. “He was always making jokes and making people laugh.”
Totten was highly respected among his peers, said Nick Haber, who worked with him for three years.
“He was a good man” and always “seemed to enjoy life,” Haber wrote in an online message to The Free Press. “We lost a brother, if you will. All Bell is affected.”
Whether it’s through work, family, or the close-knit community he formed by playing Pokemon Go, his favorite hobby, Totten left a lasting impression on everyone he met, his daughters said.
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“We knew he was touching a lot of lives… But we didn’t realize how much of that population,” Schneider said, noting that it has become more evident since his death. “He didn’t show it as often as he should have, but he had a huge heart. I think that’s what drew a lot of people to him.”
Totten’s loved ones are grateful for the support of their friends, unions, and colleagues. They plan to do a public service – what her daughters hope will be “a celebration of life” – for him in the coming weeks.
cleon@postmedia.com
twitter.com/CalviatLFPress
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada
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