Article from Parkersburg newspaper: OFFICIAL'S FUNERAL WILL BE MONDAY.
Wood County Emergency Services Director and retired Parkersburg cop Gail Hartshorn is to be laid to rest Monday, four days after he drowned in the Little Kanawha River. Hartshorn, 60, of Happy Valley Road, Parkersburg, died Thursday night after falling from a dock near his home about 10:30 p.m., said Capt. Ben Gragg of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. Gragg said Hartshorn, who was tying up his boat after having it out on the water that evening, apparently slipped and fell into the water. Bystanders had pulled Hartshorn from the river by the time DNR officers arrived 10 minutes later. Lt. Terry Dunn and Officer Clyde Armstead took over cardiopulmonary esuscitation from the bystanders, Gragg said. Deputies with the Wood County Sherriff's office also responded and continued CPR until a medical team with the Eastwood Volunteer Fire Department arrived, said Chief John Louden. Hartshorn was taken to Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital by St. Joseph's paramedics at 11:18 p.m. He was dead on arrival and had never regained consciousness, Gragg said. Gragg could not confirm reports that Hartshorn may have struck his head on the dock or a submerged object when he fell into the water. The death has been listed as an accidental drowning and no autopsy is to be performed, Gragg said.
Gragg, who worked with Hartshorn for many years, remembered him as a dedicated and committed man in the field of emergency work. "He was always willing to help out", Gragg said. Ken Harris, Hartshorn's deputy at Wood County Emergency Services, said that a replacement for Hartshorn would have to be appointed by the county commission and that a schedule of meetings and interviews would have to be set up. Administration of County Emergency Services will be divided up between Harris and Rescue Chief John Burgy in the interim, Harris said. Harris said Hartshorn wore many different hats in addition to being director, a position he had held since 1983. A floodplain coordinator, Hartshorn also worked as an inspector for the county Commission and was recently appointed coordinator for the county's new debris ordinance, Harris said. Hartshorn brought to his job an enthusiasm that was instrumental in establishing the county's emergency operations center- a task that many said couldn't be done. Through writing federal grants and constant planning and work, Hartshorn was able to make the central communication system a reality. "He was capable of doing something that skeptics said couldn't be done," Harris said. "He was a go-getter. That's just who he was."
Services for Hartshorn are scheduled for 11 A.M. Monday at Kimes Funeral Home, Parkersburg, with burial at Mount Olivet Cemetery. County commissioners Jean Grapes and Holmes Shaver could not be reached for comment Friday. A secretary at Commissioner Steve Grimm's office said he was out of town until Monday.
1st wife Mary Virginia Eaton (div)
Dec. 17, 1955 Wood Co., WV
2nd wife Linda Anderson
married March 18, 1978
Wood County Emergency Services Director and retired Parkersburg cop Gail Hartshorn is to be laid to rest Monday, four days after he drowned in the Little Kanawha River. Hartshorn, 60, of Happy Valley Road, Parkersburg, died Thursday night after falling from a dock near his home about 10:30 p.m., said Capt. Ben Gragg of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. Gragg said Hartshorn, who was tying up his boat after having it out on the water that evening, apparently slipped and fell into the water. Bystanders had pulled Hartshorn from the river by the time DNR officers arrived 10 minutes later. Lt. Terry Dunn and Officer Clyde Armstead took over cardiopulmonary esuscitation from the bystanders, Gragg said. Deputies with the Wood County Sherriff's office also responded and continued CPR until a medical team with the Eastwood Volunteer Fire Department arrived, said Chief John Louden. Hartshorn was taken to Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital by St. Joseph's paramedics at 11:18 p.m. He was dead on arrival and had never regained consciousness, Gragg said. Gragg could not confirm reports that Hartshorn may have struck his head on the dock or a submerged object when he fell into the water. The death has been listed as an accidental drowning and no autopsy is to be performed, Gragg said.
Gragg, who worked with Hartshorn for many years, remembered him as a dedicated and committed man in the field of emergency work. "He was always willing to help out", Gragg said. Ken Harris, Hartshorn's deputy at Wood County Emergency Services, said that a replacement for Hartshorn would have to be appointed by the county commission and that a schedule of meetings and interviews would have to be set up. Administration of County Emergency Services will be divided up between Harris and Rescue Chief John Burgy in the interim, Harris said. Harris said Hartshorn wore many different hats in addition to being director, a position he had held since 1983. A floodplain coordinator, Hartshorn also worked as an inspector for the county Commission and was recently appointed coordinator for the county's new debris ordinance, Harris said. Hartshorn brought to his job an enthusiasm that was instrumental in establishing the county's emergency operations center- a task that many said couldn't be done. Through writing federal grants and constant planning and work, Hartshorn was able to make the central communication system a reality. "He was capable of doing something that skeptics said couldn't be done," Harris said. "He was a go-getter. That's just who he was."
Services for Hartshorn are scheduled for 11 A.M. Monday at Kimes Funeral Home, Parkersburg, with burial at Mount Olivet Cemetery. County commissioners Jean Grapes and Holmes Shaver could not be reached for comment Friday. A secretary at Commissioner Steve Grimm's office said he was out of town until Monday.
1st wife Mary Virginia Eaton (div)
Dec. 17, 1955 Wood Co., WV
2nd wife Linda Anderson
married March 18, 1978
Article from Parkersburg newspaper: OFFICIAL'S FUNERAL WILL BE MONDAY.
Wood County Emergency Services Director and retired Parkersburg cop Gail Hartshorn is to be laid to rest Monday, four days after he drowned in the Little Kanawha River. Hartshorn, 60, of Happy Valley Road, Parkersburg, died Thursday night after falling from a dock near his home about 10:30 p.m., said Capt. Ben Gragg of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. Gragg said Hartshorn, who was tying up his boat after having it out on the water that evening, apparently slipped and fell into the water. Bystanders had pulled Hartshorn from the river by the time DNR officers arrived 10 minutes later. Lt. Terry Dunn and Officer Clyde Armstead took over cardiopulmonary esuscitation from the bystanders, Gragg said. Deputies with the Wood County Sherriff's office also responded and continued CPR until a medical team with the Eastwood Volunteer Fire Department arrived, said Chief John Louden. Hartshorn was taken to Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital by St. Joseph's paramedics at 11:18 p.m. He was dead on arrival and had never regained consciousness, Gragg said. Gragg could not confirm reports that Hartshorn may have struck his head on the dock or a submerged object when he fell into the water. The death has been listed as an accidental drowning and no autopsy is to be performed, Gragg said.
Gragg, who worked with Hartshorn for many years, remembered him as a dedicated and committed man in the field of emergency work. "He was always willing to help out", Gragg said. Ken Harris, Hartshorn's deputy at Wood County Emergency Services, said that a replacement for Hartshorn would have to be appointed by the county commission and that a schedule of meetings and interviews would have to be set up. Administration of County Emergency Services will be divided up between Harris and Rescue Chief John Burgy in the interim, Harris said. Harris said Hartshorn wore many different hats in addition to being director, a position he had held since 1983. A floodplain coordinator, Hartshorn also worked as an inspector for the county Commission and was recently appointed coordinator for the county's new debris ordinance, Harris said. Hartshorn brought to his job an enthusiasm that was instrumental in establishing the county's emergency operations center- a task that many said couldn't be done. Through writing federal grants and constant planning and work, Hartshorn was able to make the central communication system a reality. "He was capable of doing something that skeptics said couldn't be done," Harris said. "He was a go-getter. That's just who he was."
Services for Hartshorn are scheduled for 11 A.M. Monday at Kimes Funeral Home, Parkersburg, with burial at Mount Olivet Cemetery. County commissioners Jean Grapes and Holmes Shaver could not be reached for comment Friday. A secretary at Commissioner Steve Grimm's office said he was out of town until Monday.
1st wife Mary Virginia Eaton (div)
Dec. 17, 1955 Wood Co., WV
2nd wife Linda Anderson
married March 18, 1978
Wood County Emergency Services Director and retired Parkersburg cop Gail Hartshorn is to be laid to rest Monday, four days after he drowned in the Little Kanawha River. Hartshorn, 60, of Happy Valley Road, Parkersburg, died Thursday night after falling from a dock near his home about 10:30 p.m., said Capt. Ben Gragg of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. Gragg said Hartshorn, who was tying up his boat after having it out on the water that evening, apparently slipped and fell into the water. Bystanders had pulled Hartshorn from the river by the time DNR officers arrived 10 minutes later. Lt. Terry Dunn and Officer Clyde Armstead took over cardiopulmonary esuscitation from the bystanders, Gragg said. Deputies with the Wood County Sherriff's office also responded and continued CPR until a medical team with the Eastwood Volunteer Fire Department arrived, said Chief John Louden. Hartshorn was taken to Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital by St. Joseph's paramedics at 11:18 p.m. He was dead on arrival and had never regained consciousness, Gragg said. Gragg could not confirm reports that Hartshorn may have struck his head on the dock or a submerged object when he fell into the water. The death has been listed as an accidental drowning and no autopsy is to be performed, Gragg said.
Gragg, who worked with Hartshorn for many years, remembered him as a dedicated and committed man in the field of emergency work. "He was always willing to help out", Gragg said. Ken Harris, Hartshorn's deputy at Wood County Emergency Services, said that a replacement for Hartshorn would have to be appointed by the county commission and that a schedule of meetings and interviews would have to be set up. Administration of County Emergency Services will be divided up between Harris and Rescue Chief John Burgy in the interim, Harris said. Harris said Hartshorn wore many different hats in addition to being director, a position he had held since 1983. A floodplain coordinator, Hartshorn also worked as an inspector for the county Commission and was recently appointed coordinator for the county's new debris ordinance, Harris said. Hartshorn brought to his job an enthusiasm that was instrumental in establishing the county's emergency operations center- a task that many said couldn't be done. Through writing federal grants and constant planning and work, Hartshorn was able to make the central communication system a reality. "He was capable of doing something that skeptics said couldn't be done," Harris said. "He was a go-getter. That's just who he was."
Services for Hartshorn are scheduled for 11 A.M. Monday at Kimes Funeral Home, Parkersburg, with burial at Mount Olivet Cemetery. County commissioners Jean Grapes and Holmes Shaver could not be reached for comment Friday. A secretary at Commissioner Steve Grimm's office said he was out of town until Monday.
1st wife Mary Virginia Eaton (div)
Dec. 17, 1955 Wood Co., WV
2nd wife Linda Anderson
married March 18, 1978
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