KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Five weeks after a Kansas City Missouri Water Department employee died while working on a sewer line, his friends and co-workers honored him with a motorcycle rally. Donald Fenton was a veteran KCMO water department employee of 14 years, and his colleagues said when they weren’t working, they were riding.
Craig Tinsley and Avon Johnson are two of Fenton’s best friends and rode together multiple times a week. Fenton may not have physically been on this ride, but his friends said they’re ridding for him.
“He’d (Fenton) get a blast out of it,” said Tinsley. “He would appreciate that, he would do it for us.”
Johnson said he remembers when Fenton got his motorcycle, a Suzuki 1000.
“He (Fenton) always wanted to keep his money, he didn’t like to spend his money on what he called foolishness, he was real adequate about taking care of his little girls,” said Johnson.
Then, one day, Johnson said Fenton asked him to go with him to get a motorcycle. From that day on the crew rode on Wednesday’s, Thursday’s and Fridays after work.
According the KCMO Water Department, Fenton was working on a sewer line on July 22. A plug that was holding back water didn’t hold and the line flooded with Fenton inside. It’s not clear if Fenton was wearing a harness and retrieval line, which is required by federal regulations. The investigation report on the accident hasn’t been released by the water department.
Fenton’s girlfriend, Lalita Brown, said the day Fenton died is a day she can’t forget.
“I just hit the floor, I couldn’t believe what they were telling me,” said Brown. “I was asking them are they sure?”
Fenton worked for the water department for 14 years, and recently received a promotion.
