Truck procession honors memory of fellow driver

PORT ANGELES — A procession of trucks with horns blaring Saturday morning honored the memory of a truck driver who was killed when a cardboard bale fell on him.

Joseph Coolidge Oiness, 47, of Sequim, died Feb. 25 at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles after a 1,500-pound bale in a semi-trailer fell on him when he opened the trailer doors at a McKinley Paper Company unloading area on Ediz Hook.

The Old Blyn Highway resident had worked as a driver at Hermann Brothers Logging & Construction Inc. of Port Angeles for about 10 years.

Co-owner Bill Hermann said about 25 company truck drivers and about a half-dozen more of Oiness’s friends drove from the company’s Eclipse Industrial Parkway site to Ediz Hook and back to honor his memory before noon Saturday.

“That’s one of the honors they wanted to show,” Hermann said Saturday. “They’re going to have a little celebration of life for him [Saturday], and that’s how they wanted to kick it off.”

State Labor and Industries officials are conducting an investigation as it does for all workplace fatalities, Dina Lorraine of Labor & Industries said shortly after Oiness’ death.

“Some time during the transport the load shifted,” she said in an email then.

A family member said Oiness had eight children.

More in News

Tracy Ryan, a nurse at Jefferson Healthcare in Port Townsend, stands in front of one of the hospital’s maternity ward rooms. (Grace Deng/Washington State Standard)
Rural maternity wards are struggling to stay afloat

State and federal lawmakers are trying to help

Jefferson County approves transportation plan

Six-year improvement outlook budgeted for more than $94M

Rainwater collection presentation canceled

The Rainwater Collection 101 presentation scheduled for 6:30 p.m.… Continue reading

Rear Admiral Charles E. Fosse, right, U.S. Coast Guard District 13 commander, was the guest speaker at the U.S. Coast Guard Station Port Angeles’ annual Veterans Day celebration on Monday. Chaplain Mike VanProyen, left, and Kelly Higgins, the commanding officer at Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles, also participated in the ceremony. (Paula Hunt/Peninsula Daily News)
Hundreds gather in Port Angeles to honor service members

High school band, choral groups highlight event

Former Marine Joseph Schwann of Port Townsend smiles as he receives a Quilt of Valor from Kathy Darrow, right, and another member of Quilts of Valor during the Veterans Day event at the American Legion Marvin G. Shields Memorial Post 26 in Port Townsend on Monday. Group leader Kathey Bates, left, was the emcee of the event. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Quilts of Valor

Former Marine Joseph Schwann of Port Townsend smiles as he receives a… Continue reading

Port Townsend ethics complaint dismissed

Officer examines argument on open meetings

Friends of the Library to host annual meeting

The Port Angeles Friends of the Library will conduct… Continue reading

Peninsula College to stage ‘The Thanksgiving Play’

Peninsula College will present its production of “The Thanksgiving… Continue reading

Ceramic sculpture “Flora-Fauna” by Thomas Connery.
Library to host reception for ‘Second Look’ exhibition

The North Olympic Library System will host a reception… Continue reading

Sequim City Council members finalized through their consent agenda to ban the sale of fireworks effective October 2025. They held a public hearing last month that garnered mostly support for the ban. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Sequim finalizes ban on fireworks

Ordinance change will go into effect next October

Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group
Rich Krebsbach, manager of the Highland Irrigation District, asks questions of Rhiana Barkie, Clallam County public works project coordinator. The map is one of four new options for the Dungeness Off-Channel Reservoir project. Public input is being taken through the county’s website at https://www.clallamcountywa.gov/188/Dungeness-Off-Channel-Reservoir-Project.
Sequim reservoir project draws crowd, questions

Clallam County, FEMA public comment period open through Nov. 21