Hundreds of people packed Christ the King Church in downtown Sudbury Feb. 3 to say goodbye to 47-year-old Stephen “Steve” Joseph Perry, who was killed in an accident at Vale's Coleman Mine late last month.

Rev. Alex Saurianthadathil, who led the traditional Catholic funeral mass, offered words of comfort for Perry's 19-year-old daughter, Brittany Boyd-Perry.

“I would like to remind you ... that you are not alone,” he said. “You have a wonderful family ... We are all here for you to support you, to pray for you.”

He told the mourners that their bond with Perry “will never die.”

“He will be there always in your hearts and in your minds,” Saurianthadathil said. “Yes, if you have built a loving bond, you will always have a connection to him.”

The priest said Perry, who was born in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, and is survived by 12 brothers and sisters, was a “good father, a good teacher and a good friend,” and was always there for his daughter.

He is remembered in his obituary for his love of sports, including golf, soccer and hockey.

“Above all, he was a happy man,” Saurianthadathil said. “That is what it means to be a Christian — to be happy, to be joyful.”

Perry, who had worked at Vale for 16 years, was killed Jan. 29 after rock came loose from the face of a development drift where he was loading explosives.

The funeral for fallen Vale miner Stephen Perry was held at Christ the King Church Feb. 3. Brittany Boyd-Perry (centre) is seen here leaving the church, flanked by relatives, after her father's funeral. Photo by Heidi Ulrichsen.

The funeral was attended by dozens of members of Steelworkers Local 6500, the union which represents Vale miners. Many of the union members were wearing black armbands.

Several Vale officials, including John Pollesel, Vale Canada's chief operating officer, also attended the service, along with Mayor Marianne Matichuk, Sudbury MP Glenn Thibeault and Nickel Belt MP Claude Gravelle.

Francis Roy, who worked with Perry at Coleman Mine for about six years before transferring to a different mine two years ago, told Northern Life outside of the church that his colleague was a “really safe worker.”

“He was an advocate for safety,” he said. “It was kind of ironic, what happened.”

He said he found out about Perry's death through word of mouth. “I thought maybe the name was wrong,” Roy said. “I thought it was maybe someone else. It was just disbelief.”

He said he'll remember Perry for his sense of humour. “He's going to be missed big time,” Roy said.

Thibeault said Perry's death is a “tragic event.”

“Nobody expects when you pack your lunch and leave in the morning, you're not going to come home,” he said. “It's a sad thing to see. It's good to see that they're going to find out what happened and make the necessary changes.”

Mine Mill Local 598/CAW president Richard Paquin, who represents miners at the city's other major mining company, Xstrata Nickel, said it's been 10 years since his union lost one of its members in a workplace accident, but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen.

“You always try to do the best you can to prevent it, but somehow it keeps happening. We've got to work harder at it, is basically the bottom line.”

Posted by Mark Gentili