Metro News Release

For immediate release: July 20, 2006

Metro to create memorial and scholarships in the name of fallen employees

After his brother’s death, Jong Pil Lee wanted to do something meaningful for his nieces. So he and Betty Waldron, whose husband died at his Metro job months earlier, approached the transit authority about creating a scholarship fund for the children of employees who die on the job.

"The scholarship means a lot," said Lee. "It builds appreciation. A lot of children lose their opportunity for education when they lose a parent and no one gives them an educational fund."

The transit agency’s Board today approved creating the "Metro Memorial Scholarship Fund" for minor dependents of employees who die on the job and a standing memorial to the deceased employees. Details for both proposals are still being developed, but Metro officials envision employees and the public being able to contribute to the scholarship fund. Interim General Manager Dan Tangherlini said he was moved to create a memorial after visiting the Lee family hours after the death.

"Each day our employees provide nearly 1.2 million people with transportation that gets them to work, school, home, church, culture and entertainment. They do it safely and efficiently. However, they do not do it without some personal risk. The memorial will bear testament to that risk for both our employees and our riders. The scholarship fund will help support those left behind by the loss of an employee," Tangherlini said.

Thirteen Metro employees have died on the job in the agency’s 30-year history. The most recent was automatic train control technician Jong Won Lee, 49, of Springfield, Va., who was hit and killed by a Red Line train May 14 at Dupont Circle station. Last October, track worker Michael Waldron, 47, of Riverdale, Md., was hit by a train near Braddock Road on the Yellow and Blue lines. He later died. Waldron left behind a wife and teenage son and Lee is survived by his wife and three young daughters.

News release issued on July 20, 2006.