NDOT dedicates sign in memory of Dave Schwartz
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Pictured from left at last week’s sign dedication honoring the late Dave Schwartz are his wife, Liz, and children Shelbi Bates and Matthew Schwartz.
A new blue sign revealed last week near the Highway 34/Giltner spur intersection is designed to serve as both a reminder to drive safely and as a memorial to a Nebraska Department of Transportation worker who lost his life in a tragic accident on that site last fall.
Family members, friends and co-workers of the late Dave Schwartz gathered for a brief but emotional ceremony April 17, where a new sign was unveiled honoring his memory. Posted on the southwest corner of the intersection, the sign reads: “Please Drive Safely — In Memory of Dave Schwartz”
Schwartz, a 42-year employee of the state Department of Transportation, was assisting local law enforcement and workers from the county highway department Oct. 17 at the scene of a spill involving corn mash at that intersection when he was struck by a GMC Yukon. A Nebraska State Patrol investigation determined that the driver had lost control on the slippery substance and struck Schwartz. A Hamilton County sheriff’s deputy and others who were helping with the cleanup responded immediately, performing life-saving measures, but Schwartz was pronounced dead at the scene.
Six months to the day after the accident, Ben Merchant, district operations and maintenance manager with the Department of Transportation, said it’s important to honor the legacy of a man who devoted his professional life to traffic safety.
“One thing I’ve learned in my time, just in being alive, is that when an event like this first hits, there’s a lot of talk in the community and then as the months wane on it kind of gets quieter and quieter,” Merchant said. “You stop hearing, ‘Well, what are we doing about this’ and all those types of things. But I know for the family that it doesn’t go away. It’s probably never going away. Time doesn’t really heal what you lost.”
Merchant said the loss of a friend and co-worker left a tremendous void at NDOT as well.
“Losing Dave left a big hole here,” he said. “It really did. He was a great guy. And I’ll tell you, I don’t normally wear hard hats, but I know that if I come on a Dave project, even though I am one of his bosses, he would not have been okay with me not having a hard hat on, so I thought it’s only appropriate today that I’ve got to have a hard hat on for Dave. We miss him a ton.”
Merchant also reported that there is a lot of work going on at NDOT in an effort to promote safety.
“We all know Dave was a safety conscious guy,” Merchant said. “He didn’t do anything wrong here. He really didn’t. But it still makes us think about the fact that we have a dangerous job and things happen, so we want to do everything we can to honor Dave’s memory and make sure that these types of things don’t happen as much and that depends on our decision making.”
Merchant said the new sign, and last week’s event, were designed to remind the driving public of the importance of safety.
“As much as we can communicate to the public with this type of thing, we’re telling the same story,” he said. “Please be careful when you’re driving. Please slow down. Please pay attention. Don’t be distracted, because it just takes one bad moment for something awful to change so many people’s lives. We really still feel the tremendous weight of that and we’re still having conversations all the time about how we can honor Dave’s legacy and really just work to look for ways to minimize these types of things as much as we can.”
And with that, a tarp was removed, revealing the sign, which was later relocated a few feet further away from the highway.
“Our hearts are still with you guys,” Merchant told the small group invited to the private event. “We are walking through this with you, not to the same degree, but he was family here, too. We loved him and we miss him.”
Dave’s wife, Liz Schwartz, thanked those who attended for coming, and offered a message and a reminder to the community.
“Today, the NDOT crew placed a sign by the highway in honor of my husband, Dave Schwartz, who spent his life working to keep the traveling public safe,” she said. “I pray the sign is noticed by all who drive by the Giltner spur on Highway 34 to remind drivers to be aware of their surroundings and always follow the rules of the road. His life mattered to many and he was taken from us way too soon.
“Thank you NDOT and our local Aurora News-Register for bringing awareness to my husband’s life and all those who put their lives in danger while serving the public,” she concluded. “Drive safely!”
