Thirty-five years after JEA lineman Randall Champion's harrowing brush with death was captured in a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph that showed him dangling upside down from a utility pole receiving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation from a co-worker, Mr. Champion has died.
After surviving two electrical shocks, the retired lineman died Saturday of heart failure. He was 64.
The funeral will be at 11 a.m. today at Hardage-Giddens Rivermead Funeral Home at 127 Blanding Blvd. in Orange Park.
The Middleburg resident broke his hip in February and had been in declining health in recent months, said his wife, Margaret Champion.
Rocco Morabito, the former Jacksonville Journal photographer who took the celebrated picture, said he last saw Mr. Champion about two years ago when he took autographed copies of the photograph that came to be known as the Kiss of Life.
Photographer Rocco Morabito (right) visited Randall Champion at St. Vincent's hospital on Oct. 26, 1988. J.D. Thompson was also present.
-- Frank Smith/file
"He was such an outgoing man with high spirits," Morabito said. "When he was feeling bad, he wouldn't let you know."
Morabito took the picture in 1967 after spotting a crew of linemen working on utility poles in Springfield. When he saw one of them dangling by a safety belt and realized he had been hit by a high-voltage wire, Morabito radioed the newspaper's city desk to call an ambulance.
Meanwhile, apprentice lineman J.D. Thompson shimmied up the pole to Mr. Champion as Morabito recorded the drama of one man breathing life into another. Jacksonville Journal copy editor Bob Pate slugged the dramatic news pictures Kiss of Life.
That split-second flick of the shutter won Morabito the ultimate journalism award, the Pulitzer Prize for news photography. Kiss of Life has been reproduced in several anthologies of the world's outstanding news pictures and widely used in first-aid training and lineman safety classes.
Margaret Champion said her husband was proud the photograph was used in safety classes and proud of his work with JEA. Thompson and her husband developed a strong bond, she said. They talked frequently, saw each other at retirement parties and even appeared together on the TV show To Tell the Truth.
Thompson, who received several heroism awards for his action, said he was acting on his training and was thankful he could revive his downed co-worker. He retired from JEA seven years ago.
After almost being electrocuted a second time in 1991, Mr. Champion retired from JEA after 30 years. His second brush with death occurred when he came in contact with a switching apparatus while in a bucket lift replacing a fuse on a utility pole.
Mr. Champion spent five weeks in a burn unit and six months in a rehabilitation hospital. The power surge from 26,000 volts of electricity burned off the side of his nose, his little finger, his lip and the top of his forehead and left him unable to walk. He suffered various health problems ever since, his wife said.
In addition to his wife, survivors include his son, Randall Champion Jr.; three daughters, Terry Francis, Barbara Bell and Ann Dixon; 12 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and two sisters.
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CHAMPION - Randall G. Champion, 64, of Middleburg, passed away August 10, 2002 following a lengthy illness. Born and raised in Jacksonville, he lived there until 1992 and retired after 30 years of service with the Jacksonville Electric Authority. He served in the U.S. Army, was a member of the Independent Order of the Foresters and the I.B.E.W. Survivors include his wife of 44 years, Margaret Aldridge Champion; son and daughterinlaw, Randall G., Jr. and Connie Champion; three daughters and their husbands, Terry A. and J.R. Francis, Barbara J. and Thomas Bell, and Ann Dixon; two sisters, Elsie Jackson and Hazel Keene; 12 grandchildren, 10 greatgrandchildren, and a number of nieces and nephews. Funeral service will be held 11 a.m. Tuesday in the chapel of HardageGiddens Rivermead Funeral Home, 127 Blanding Blvd., Orange Park. Burial will follow in Restlawn Memorial Park. The family will receive friends Monday (tonight) from 6:30 until 8:30 p.m. at the funeral home.
After surviving two electrical shocks, the retired lineman died Saturday of heart failure. He was 64.
The funeral will be at 11 a.m. today at Hardage-Giddens Rivermead Funeral Home at 127 Blanding Blvd. in Orange Park.
The Middleburg resident broke his hip in February and had been in declining health in recent months, said his wife, Margaret Champion.
Rocco Morabito, the former Jacksonville Journal photographer who took the celebrated picture, said he last saw Mr. Champion about two years ago when he took autographed copies of the photograph that came to be known as the Kiss of Life.
Photographer Rocco Morabito (right) visited Randall Champion at St. Vincent's hospital on Oct. 26, 1988. J.D. Thompson was also present.
-- Frank Smith/file
"He was such an outgoing man with high spirits," Morabito said. "When he was feeling bad, he wouldn't let you know."
Morabito took the picture in 1967 after spotting a crew of linemen working on utility poles in Springfield. When he saw one of them dangling by a safety belt and realized he had been hit by a high-voltage wire, Morabito radioed the newspaper's city desk to call an ambulance.
Meanwhile, apprentice lineman J.D. Thompson shimmied up the pole to Mr. Champion as Morabito recorded the drama of one man breathing life into another. Jacksonville Journal copy editor Bob Pate slugged the dramatic news pictures Kiss of Life.
That split-second flick of the shutter won Morabito the ultimate journalism award, the Pulitzer Prize for news photography. Kiss of Life has been reproduced in several anthologies of the world's outstanding news pictures and widely used in first-aid training and lineman safety classes.
Margaret Champion said her husband was proud the photograph was used in safety classes and proud of his work with JEA. Thompson and her husband developed a strong bond, she said. They talked frequently, saw each other at retirement parties and even appeared together on the TV show To Tell the Truth.
Thompson, who received several heroism awards for his action, said he was acting on his training and was thankful he could revive his downed co-worker. He retired from JEA seven years ago.
After almost being electrocuted a second time in 1991, Mr. Champion retired from JEA after 30 years. His second brush with death occurred when he came in contact with a switching apparatus while in a bucket lift replacing a fuse on a utility pole.
Mr. Champion spent five weeks in a burn unit and six months in a rehabilitation hospital. The power surge from 26,000 volts of electricity burned off the side of his nose, his little finger, his lip and the top of his forehead and left him unable to walk. He suffered various health problems ever since, his wife said.
In addition to his wife, survivors include his son, Randall Champion Jr.; three daughters, Terry Francis, Barbara Bell and Ann Dixon; 12 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and two sisters.
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CHAMPION - Randall G. Champion, 64, of Middleburg, passed away August 10, 2002 following a lengthy illness. Born and raised in Jacksonville, he lived there until 1992 and retired after 30 years of service with the Jacksonville Electric Authority. He served in the U.S. Army, was a member of the Independent Order of the Foresters and the I.B.E.W. Survivors include his wife of 44 years, Margaret Aldridge Champion; son and daughterinlaw, Randall G., Jr. and Connie Champion; three daughters and their husbands, Terry A. and J.R. Francis, Barbara J. and Thomas Bell, and Ann Dixon; two sisters, Elsie Jackson and Hazel Keene; 12 grandchildren, 10 greatgrandchildren, and a number of nieces and nephews. Funeral service will be held 11 a.m. Tuesday in the chapel of HardageGiddens Rivermead Funeral Home, 127 Blanding Blvd., Orange Park. Burial will follow in Restlawn Memorial Park. The family will receive friends Monday (tonight) from 6:30 until 8:30 p.m. at the funeral home.
Thirty-five years after JEA lineman Randall Champion's harrowing brush with death was captured in a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph that showed him dangling upside down from a utility pole receiving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation from a co-worker, Mr. Champion has died.
After surviving two electrical shocks, the retired lineman died Saturday of heart failure. He was 64.
The funeral will be at 11 a.m. today at Hardage-Giddens Rivermead Funeral Home at 127 Blanding Blvd. in Orange Park.
The Middleburg resident broke his hip in February and had been in declining health in recent months, said his wife, Margaret Champion.
Rocco Morabito, the former Jacksonville Journal photographer who took the celebrated picture, said he last saw Mr. Champion about two years ago when he took autographed copies of the photograph that came to be known as the Kiss of Life.
Photographer Rocco Morabito (right) visited Randall Champion at St. Vincent's hospital on Oct. 26, 1988. J.D. Thompson was also present.
-- Frank Smith/file
"He was such an outgoing man with high spirits," Morabito said. "When he was feeling bad, he wouldn't let you know."
Morabito took the picture in 1967 after spotting a crew of linemen working on utility poles in Springfield. When he saw one of them dangling by a safety belt and realized he had been hit by a high-voltage wire, Morabito radioed the newspaper's city desk to call an ambulance.
Meanwhile, apprentice lineman J.D. Thompson shimmied up the pole to Mr. Champion as Morabito recorded the drama of one man breathing life into another. Jacksonville Journal copy editor Bob Pate slugged the dramatic news pictures Kiss of Life.
That split-second flick of the shutter won Morabito the ultimate journalism award, the Pulitzer Prize for news photography. Kiss of Life has been reproduced in several anthologies of the world's outstanding news pictures and widely used in first-aid training and lineman safety classes.
Margaret Champion said her husband was proud the photograph was used in safety classes and proud of his work with JEA. Thompson and her husband developed a strong bond, she said. They talked frequently, saw each other at retirement parties and even appeared together on the TV show To Tell the Truth.
Thompson, who received several heroism awards for his action, said he was acting on his training and was thankful he could revive his downed co-worker. He retired from JEA seven years ago.
After almost being electrocuted a second time in 1991, Mr. Champion retired from JEA after 30 years. His second brush with death occurred when he came in contact with a switching apparatus while in a bucket lift replacing a fuse on a utility pole.
Mr. Champion spent five weeks in a burn unit and six months in a rehabilitation hospital. The power surge from 26,000 volts of electricity burned off the side of his nose, his little finger, his lip and the top of his forehead and left him unable to walk. He suffered various health problems ever since, his wife said.
In addition to his wife, survivors include his son, Randall Champion Jr.; three daughters, Terry Francis, Barbara Bell and Ann Dixon; 12 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and two sisters.
-----------------------------------------------------------
CHAMPION - Randall G. Champion, 64, of Middleburg, passed away August 10, 2002 following a lengthy illness. Born and raised in Jacksonville, he lived there until 1992 and retired after 30 years of service with the Jacksonville Electric Authority. He served in the U.S. Army, was a member of the Independent Order of the Foresters and the I.B.E.W. Survivors include his wife of 44 years, Margaret Aldridge Champion; son and daughterinlaw, Randall G., Jr. and Connie Champion; three daughters and their husbands, Terry A. and J.R. Francis, Barbara J. and Thomas Bell, and Ann Dixon; two sisters, Elsie Jackson and Hazel Keene; 12 grandchildren, 10 greatgrandchildren, and a number of nieces and nephews. Funeral service will be held 11 a.m. Tuesday in the chapel of HardageGiddens Rivermead Funeral Home, 127 Blanding Blvd., Orange Park. Burial will follow in Restlawn Memorial Park. The family will receive friends Monday (tonight) from 6:30 until 8:30 p.m. at the funeral home.
After surviving two electrical shocks, the retired lineman died Saturday of heart failure. He was 64.
The funeral will be at 11 a.m. today at Hardage-Giddens Rivermead Funeral Home at 127 Blanding Blvd. in Orange Park.
The Middleburg resident broke his hip in February and had been in declining health in recent months, said his wife, Margaret Champion.
Rocco Morabito, the former Jacksonville Journal photographer who took the celebrated picture, said he last saw Mr. Champion about two years ago when he took autographed copies of the photograph that came to be known as the Kiss of Life.
Photographer Rocco Morabito (right) visited Randall Champion at St. Vincent's hospital on Oct. 26, 1988. J.D. Thompson was also present.
-- Frank Smith/file
"He was such an outgoing man with high spirits," Morabito said. "When he was feeling bad, he wouldn't let you know."
Morabito took the picture in 1967 after spotting a crew of linemen working on utility poles in Springfield. When he saw one of them dangling by a safety belt and realized he had been hit by a high-voltage wire, Morabito radioed the newspaper's city desk to call an ambulance.
Meanwhile, apprentice lineman J.D. Thompson shimmied up the pole to Mr. Champion as Morabito recorded the drama of one man breathing life into another. Jacksonville Journal copy editor Bob Pate slugged the dramatic news pictures Kiss of Life.
That split-second flick of the shutter won Morabito the ultimate journalism award, the Pulitzer Prize for news photography. Kiss of Life has been reproduced in several anthologies of the world's outstanding news pictures and widely used in first-aid training and lineman safety classes.
Margaret Champion said her husband was proud the photograph was used in safety classes and proud of his work with JEA. Thompson and her husband developed a strong bond, she said. They talked frequently, saw each other at retirement parties and even appeared together on the TV show To Tell the Truth.
Thompson, who received several heroism awards for his action, said he was acting on his training and was thankful he could revive his downed co-worker. He retired from JEA seven years ago.
After almost being electrocuted a second time in 1991, Mr. Champion retired from JEA after 30 years. His second brush with death occurred when he came in contact with a switching apparatus while in a bucket lift replacing a fuse on a utility pole.
Mr. Champion spent five weeks in a burn unit and six months in a rehabilitation hospital. The power surge from 26,000 volts of electricity burned off the side of his nose, his little finger, his lip and the top of his forehead and left him unable to walk. He suffered various health problems ever since, his wife said.
In addition to his wife, survivors include his son, Randall Champion Jr.; three daughters, Terry Francis, Barbara Bell and Ann Dixon; 12 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and two sisters.
-----------------------------------------------------------
CHAMPION - Randall G. Champion, 64, of Middleburg, passed away August 10, 2002 following a lengthy illness. Born and raised in Jacksonville, he lived there until 1992 and retired after 30 years of service with the Jacksonville Electric Authority. He served in the U.S. Army, was a member of the Independent Order of the Foresters and the I.B.E.W. Survivors include his wife of 44 years, Margaret Aldridge Champion; son and daughterinlaw, Randall G., Jr. and Connie Champion; three daughters and their husbands, Terry A. and J.R. Francis, Barbara J. and Thomas Bell, and Ann Dixon; two sisters, Elsie Jackson and Hazel Keene; 12 grandchildren, 10 greatgrandchildren, and a number of nieces and nephews. Funeral service will be held 11 a.m. Tuesday in the chapel of HardageGiddens Rivermead Funeral Home, 127 Blanding Blvd., Orange Park. Burial will follow in Restlawn Memorial Park. The family will receive friends Monday (tonight) from 6:30 until 8:30 p.m. at the funeral home.
