Written by Monique Jacques
A Harding University Physical Resources employee of 21 years fell more than 12 feet to his death while working on the Mabee Center addition one month ago.Teddy Joe Pike, a carpenter and welder, was on a rooftop beam doing a routine heating and air preparation job when he fell to the concrete floor in the presence of his son-in-law, Roger Barger, and two other workers. The accident occurred Tuesday, Jan. 4, but Pike remained on life-support until Wednesday because he was an organ donor.This is the first on-campus employee death Harding has ever dealt with.”It was a terrible accident and we certainly feel for the family,” President David Burks said. “He had been a valuable employee for Harding for over 20 years. It is just a shock when something like this happens, a terrible loss. We just continue to lift up the family in prayer.”Faculty who attended the memorial service Friday, Jan. 7, took a loaded Harding bus to Quitman, Ark., where the auditorium of Howard General Baptist Church, equipped with extra chairs down the aisles, was full “cheek to jowl,” as Director of Physical Resources Danny DeRamus said, with standing room only in the foyer.”It was a memorial of his life; it wasn’t a tragedy of his death,” DeRamus said. “Memorializing who he was and what he stood for. I’ve got to remember that if I want a service like this I have got to live like Joe did.”An official memorial plaque is in the process of being created for the Physical Resources office. The men who worked with Pike on a regular basis created their own memorial — a sheet of metal engraved with his name and welded to the crossbeam from which he fell in the Mabee.When tragedy strikes, questions of safety arise. “We’re in a dangerous business,” DeRamus said.”Any time something like this happens, safety awareness is heightened,” Vice President for Finance Mel Sansom added. “I think that we do have good policies and procedures in place, but they will be looked at strongly and we’ll make improvements where needed and communicate them even better.”Because most of the Physical Resources employees have been with Harding for 20 to 40 years, DeRamus said that they have become a family within the larger Harding family.”We are losing a brother,” he said. “He was respected by everybody because he was particular about doing his work right, but he was also a guy they could joke with. There were a lot of practical jokes going on, and he was always in the middle of that, always one who made things interesting.”One month after the accident, faculty and staff reflect not only on the tragedy of a lost life, but on the reality of what is most important.”Everyone on campus is aware of Joe’s family and just trying to reach out to them as they make thisdifficult transition in their lives,” Sansom said. “I guess we’re all more mindful of how short life can be and just making sure we’re living how God wants us to and that we’re ready to go when our time comes.”For more information about the memorial plaque efforts, please contact Danny DeRamus at 501-279-4339.
