Man, 77, visiting Milwaukee with his wife falls to his death after drawbridge opens – NBC News

Richard Charles Dujardin, a former reporter who lived in Providence, Rhode Island, was crossing the Kilbourn Avenue Bridge over the Milwaukee River with his wife, Rose-Marie. However, during his stroll the drawbridge began to rise.

He grabbed onto the side railing and held on for one to two minutes. Despite his best efforts, he lost his grip and fell to his death.

The medical examiner’s report said the bridge operator was fully trained and in his fourth year as a bridge operator. The operator must check two cameras with live footage of the bridge before opening it, the report said.

About half of the 20 movable bridges in the city are operated remotely, and the Department of Public Works said it’s a safe and standard industry practice.

During his life, Dujardin reported on religion for the Providence Journal newspaper for 36 years. He interviewed Pope John Paul II, Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, and the Dalai Lama. He was born in 1944, attended college at Fordham University, and became a reporter at the Providence Journal in 1977.

Dujardin said that religion writing allowed him to ask important questions about people’s faith lives and see what makes them tick. Dujardin and his wife, Rose-Marie, had six children and nine grandchildren.

Dujardin was looking at an iPad as he crossed the drawbridge, and his wife said he was typically a slow walker and used a hearing aid. The bridge operator has been placed on leave, and the death remains under investigation.

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