Felicia Chamberlain (front right) wipes away tears as she, Gary Chamberlain, (front left) and other family members unveil the Bryan T. “Chipper” Chamberlain Memorial Bridge sign along Dunnings Highway during its dedication Thursday morning. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor

CLAYSBURG — To his family, Bryan “Chipper” Chamberlain was a gentle giant, a big teddy bear who always tried to make others laugh and was always close at hand when someone needed help.

On Aug. 20, 2018, Chamberlain, a PennDOT employee, was killed when a piece of heavy equipment in which he was riding slipped out of gear and started rolling backward, eventually traveling down a steep embankment. He was thrown from the machine and pinned between the equipment and a tree.

The 2006 Claysburg-Kimmel High School graduate was 30 years old.

Dozens of family members, friends, co-workers and community leaders gathered at the Claysburg Volunteer Fire Company’s parking lot Thursday morning to dedicate a bridge in his memory.

The newly unveiled Bryan T. “Chipper” Chamberlain Memorial Bridge passes over South Poplar Run on Dunnings Highway in Claysburg.

“I’m very happy that they were able to dedicate it to Bryan, in honor of him,” Felicia Chamberlain said through tears. She and Bryan were married in 2016 and would have celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary in May.

State Rep. Jim Gregory, R-Hollidaysburg, introduced the legislation to rename the bridge and was on hand to speak at the dedication ceremony.

“We did a bridge naming last week for a veteran,” Gregory said. “This is a very different kind of bridge naming, and I only ask that what we acknowledge is that we all miss Chipper Chamberlain.”

In his speech, Gregory said that Harrisburg needed to acknowledge and recognize the need for a change in OSHA compliance in Pennsylvania for “municipal entities, including PennDOT” so that Chamberlain’s passing “was not in vain.”

“That we will be able to change in Pennsylvania, how public safety workers are protected on the job and that they will not have to go through a bridge dedication,” he said.

Currently, workers at state and local government agencies are not covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, according to the OSHA website.

That includes entities such as school districts and PennDOT, Gregory said.

“This really didn’t need to happen,” Bryan’s father, Gary Chamberlain, said.

Retired American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Director Mickey Sgro also spoke during the dedication ceremony, saying that the bridge is a sign of remembrance for fallen workers and a sign of the love Bryan had for his family.

“Every time you see that sign, you’ll feel that love,” Sgro said. “But make no mistake about it — that sign is also a remembrance of a call, a call to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.”

During his speech, Sgro noted that families are often forgotten following events like bridge dedications even though “they still have the same pain — they still have the same sorrow.”

Sgro said he is going to Pittsburgh on Tuesday to try to start a nonprofit foundation in Bryan Chamberlain’s name that would help the families of fallen workers.

“We’re going to do something that needed to be done for years. … I promised you a couple years ago that I wouldn’t walk away even though I was retiring, and I’m not going to walk away now,” Sgro said. “We are going to help fallen workers’ families in the name of Chipper.”

“I’m very proud,” Felicia Chamberlain said of Sgro and Gregory’s efforts. “I don’t want another family member to ever go through this. It should have never happened.”

Gary Chamberlain echoed those sentiments, saying that Sgro and Gregory stood with his family, trying to help anyway they could.

“I just don’t want anyone else to have to go through this,” Gary Chamberlain said. “I was burnt there in June, spent three days in West Penn Hospital in intensive care and everyone said ‘boy, that would have had to hurt.’ I said not nearly as much as losing a child.”

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.