Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 7-4-17

Feature
Hard-Working Family Man Died In TECO Blast
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
On Thursday evening, 40-year-old Christopher Irvin died at the Tampa Electric Company’s plant in Apollo Beach.
Michael McCort, 60, an engineer, also died in the blast. Several others were injured as well.
Four of the injured were admitted into Tampa General Hospital with life- threatening injuries. They are: Gary Marine, Jr., 32; his stepfather, Frank Lee Jones, 55; and Armando J. Perez, 56.
Irvin’s death means the loss of a dedicated and hard-working employee to the company. His mother, Mrs. Kathy Irvin and the rest of his family know where he inherited his work ethics. He patterned himself after his mother.
“He would go to work when no one else would. He worked overtime, holi- days, on his vacation, and he would go in on other shifts if someone called in.
“He was devoted to his job and he would work around the clock if he could. He was a Crew Supervisor for Gaffin Industries and had worked with them for about 15 years.”
Irvin and his twin sister, Chris- tine, learned about working early in life. They were 7-years-old when they started selling the Florida Sentinel Bulletin.
Christine remembers, “We were really too young so our oldest sister and brother would get the papers and then watch over us while we sold them. Af- terwards, Ms. Kay (Andrews) and Mr. Blythe, III, just took us in. They just adopted us. Ms. Kay was his com- forter. He would go and talk to her about anything that was bothering him.”
About His Family Everyone who knew “Crip,” as he
was known, knew about his work ethics. And they also knew that the dedication and devotion he gave to his job paled in comparison to the love he displayed to- wards his family.
His death means the loss of a super- star to his family, his friends, and the community. A hero has passed away.
“He did a lot. He had earned his Class A License, and he was the kind of person you couldn’t just tell anything and he would believe it. He did his own research to check out the facts.
“He was the kind of person who wouldn’t see you down and not try to help. If you were down, he would reach back to help. If he didn’t have but a dol- lar, he would give you fifty cents if you needed it.
“Anyone who had the pleasure of meeting him, he made a long lasting im- pression on that person’s heart, soul and spirit. He was just awesome. Our brother was our Superstar. He was my backbone,” Christine said.
Irvin was the father of three sons and a daughter. He was also expecting his fifth child. His mother said he took care of his own children. “He didn’t want anyone else being responsible for taking care of his children. And, he wanted them all to grow up together,
CHRISTOPHER IRVIN 12/20/1976 --- 6/29/2017
and be able to take care of themselves. “He wanted to see them grow up and be able to take care of themselves. He didn’t want his family or his chil-
dren to have to struggle.”
Christine said, “He was always
happy and if he was upset about some- thing, it didn’t last too long. He was a peacemaker. He was really smart. He could take a contract apart.”
Mrs. Irvin said although he wasn’t active in church, he read the entire Bible three times.
Mrs. Irvin said, “He loved his mommy and his siblings. But, he called me “Mommy,” and he really loved me. On Tuesday, he cooked dinner for her. “He called Wednesday to find out if I
CHRISTINE AND CHRISTOPHER IRVIN
had taken the dinner to work for lunch. I told him I would take it Thursday.
“He told me he was going to cook the rice because I couldn’t cook rice. He loved to dance and he was just dancing in the mirror.”
Mrs. Irvin said shortly before 4 p.m., on Thursday, she attempted to call her son, but he didn’t answer. She said then she received a call telling her to turn on the News, there was a break- ing story and the caller had recognized Irvin’s truck.
“When I learned that it was Chris who had been killed, I ran to the front door, opened it and I just screamed and screamed as loud as I could.”
He died on his oldest sister’s birth- day.
A Tampa Native
Mrs. Irvin gave birth two months
early by Caesarean in Tampa on De- cember 20, 1976. “When the nurse awoke me, she said ‘you have two’ and I said ‘two what?’ she said you have twins.
“No one knew I was pregnant with twins. It was a total surprise. Both of them weighed just 4 pounds.”
Born to the union of Kathy Irvin and the late David Lawrence Irvin, the twins joined an older sister and older brother. They also have a younger brother.
They attended the public schools of Hillsborough County and obtained their General Education Diplomas in adult education.
Growing up, Mrs. Irvin said they were always competitive. Christopher played baseball for the Belmont Heights Little League. One might think that Christine was a cheerleader, but she played, too. “They didn’t even know she was a girl until she took her hat off one day. But, they didn’t stop her, they let her keep playing,” their mother recalls.
In addition to his children, mother, and siblings, Irvin is survived by other family members and friends. Funeral services for him were incomplete at press time. Wilson’s Funeral Home is in charge of handling arrangements.
Anyone wishing to contact the Irvin family can reach them at (813) 900- 6244.
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