There were four farm-related deaths in Western Ontario in July. A 75-year-old farmer, a 60-year-old farmer, a 54-year-old farmer, and a 20-month-old Mennonite boy each died in separate accidents.
KITCHENER — The patriarch of Stoll Strawberries at Kitchener died last month in a tractor accident.
Retired strawberry farmer, 75-year-old Dieter Stoll, was mowing grass on the farm in his tractor, pulling the mower behind him, in the late afternoon of July 19.
He was going up a steep incline when the tractor tipped over onto him.
Several passersby stopped, freed him from the tractor, and administered CPR. He was rushed to hospital, and later pronounced dead.
A father and grandfather, the German-born Stoll started growing strawberries in his home country in 1975. A decade later, he transplanted the farm to Kitchener, bringing his family and the farm to Fischer-Hallman road, south of Kitchener.
He is survived by the mother of his children, Elke Stoll, his two children, his two brothers, and his many grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.
STOUFFVILLE — A York Region farmer died last month after the farm tractor he was driving tipped over onto him.
Fifty-four-year-old Ken Wells, who farms at Stouffville, was spraying a field when the accident occurred on July 23. His tractor rolled over and crushed him. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
He was well-known as a helpful neighbour, a skilled mechanic, and a good friend, a neighbour told the Stouffville Sun-Tribune.
Wells was the recipient of the 2015 York Region Soil and Crop Improvement Association award. He is survived by his wife Julie, his children Owen and Sarah, his parents, and his brother.
BRIGHTON — A Brighton-area farmer was killed after the tractor he was driving collided with a pickup truck at about 9 p.m. on July 25. Both vehicles ended up in the ditch.
Sixty-year old David Down was heading west on County Road 41 near Brighton and his farm, when a Black GMC Sierra hauling a trailer struck the red Case IH tractor from behind. The driver of the pickup truck was not injured.
The tractor rolled onto its side and Down was pronounced dead at the scene. The crash remains under investigation but charges are unlikely, the OPP told Farmers Forum.
LINWOOD — A twenty-month-old Mennonite boy was killed in an accident on the family’s property last month.
Police were called to the property in Linwood, northwest of Kitchener, after an accident was reported on an industrial property the family owns next to the family farm at around 7 p.m. on July 6. Mervin Martin was pronounced dead on the scene.
An air ambulance was initially called to the property, but was later called off.
The ministry of labour is investigating.
