OBIT: Russell R. CISNEY, 1961, Blairs Mills, Huntingdon County, PA

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Teresa Delikat flott_genealogy@yahoo.com February 15, 2006, 8:20 pm

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BLAIRS MILLS MAN INSTANTLY KILLED IN 59-FOOT FALL

  A 32-year-old Huntingdon County man, Russell R. Cisney of Blairs Mills, was 
instantly killed yesterday afternoon when he fell 59 feet from a swing scaffold 
while working on an Adams County construction project.
  Cisney, a widower, died of a fracture skull and internal injuries. Dr. C. G. 
Crist, Adams County coroner said.
  Cisney, father of a seven-year-old daughter, was working for a contractor who 
is erecting a large new building at the limestone quarry for the steel firm.  He 
was engaged at placing metal siding on the building when the accident happened, 
according to State Trooper Charles J. Todd of Gettysburg who joined the coroner 
in the investigation.
  Another worker, Neal A. Sieber, 32, of 105 Academy Hill, Lewistown, narrowly 
escaped being killed in the mishap.  He was working with Cisney on the same 
scaffold, but managed to grab a steel girder when the scaffold moved away from 
the side of the new building.  Sieber was rescued from his precarious position 
by fellow workers.
  It is ironic that Cisney was taking necessary safety precautions at the time 
of the accident which cost him his life.
  It is the practice to drill a hole in the steel girder and then attach a one-
foot steel bracket to the girder.  A four-inch tie-in rope is then used to keep 
the swing scaffold against the building.
  Cisney, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Brady Cisney of Blairs Mills had just started to 
drill a hole in a steel girder to place a tie-in when another screw pulled loose 
and permitted the scaffold to move away from the building.  When the swing 
scaffold moved back, Cisney fell forward, falling between the scaffold and the 
building.
  Sieber was beside the victim, holding the next piece of metal they planned to 
place on the new building as soon as Cisney had completed the safety tie-in. 
Sieber told Trooper Todd that he felt the swing moving away from the building 
and he called a warning to his buddy and then grabbed to a steel girder in order 
to save his own life.  The warning came too late and Cisney plunged to the 
ground.
  Despite the fact that Cisney's death is listed as "instantly killed", he was 
rushed to the Hanover Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 3:50 
p.m.

(continued on Page Two)

  He was born February 4, 1929, in Cromwell Township, Huntingdon County, a son 
of C. Brady and Nellie Irene (Campbell) Cisney.  He was united in marriage to 
Mary Elnora Foore of Robertsdale on March 10, 1952.  She preceded him in death 
on December 25, 1960.
  His parents of Blairs Mills, R.D., survive along with one daughter, Jeannette 
G., of Dry Run.  One brother, Andrew Cisney of Shade Gap, and two sisters, Mrs. 
Dean (Lena) Berrier of Shade Gap, and Mrs. A. Lee (Wanda) Scott of Pughkeepsie, 
N.Y. survive.
  He was of the Methodist faith.  Mr. Cisney graduated from the Orbisonia Area 
High School in 1947 and was a member of the Madden-Wennick Post 518 of 
Orbisonia.  He was a  veteran of the Korean War and was a member of the Bridge 
Workers Union, Local 404.  He had been on the job with the Bethlehem Steel 
County for four months.
  Funeral services will be held on Sunday at 2 p.m. from the Ott funeral home in 
Orbisonia.  The Rev. Arthur Price of Shade Gap, retired Methodist minister, and 
the Rev. Robert Sunderland of the Shade Valley Methodist Charge, will officiate. 
Interment will be made in the Salem EUB Cemetery at Blairs Mills, R.D.

Valley Log (?) newspaper clipping

Additional Comments:
Death date, July 11, 1961
Russell's wife Mary Elnora Foore Cisney died 28 December 1960. She was a
daughter of Walter & Esther (Miller) Foore.

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