Pour Bros. manager and electrician will be added to workers' memorial
Apr. 27—CHAMPAIGN — The lives of two community members, including a bar manager recently killed in a shooting, will be honored Sunday as Brandon Hardway and Kevin Pellum will be added to the Champaign County Worker's Memorial at a 2 p.m. ceremony at the memorial at Dodds Park, 1501 N. Mattis Ave.
Similar events will occur across the country Sunday as communities gather for Workers' Memorial Day to honor individuals who have lost their lives while on the job, organizers said.
"These two young men were taken from their friends and families far too soon," said Kevin Sage, president of the East Central Illinois Building and Construction Trades Council. "It is important that we honor their memories, as we remember all of those who have lost their lives while on the job."
Mr. Hardway, who was the general manager of Pour Bros. in downtown Champaign, died Feb. 17 at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, after being shot in the back outside the bar on Feb. 8. He was 45.
His father, Jim, described his son as a "fun-loving" and friendly sports enthusiast who was always ready to help others.
"He was such a people person," Jim Hardway said. "He always had a listening ear, and he had a good rapport with these customers."
He met several of Pour Bros' patrons during a celebration-of-life event, and they shared stories about how his son — who had been with the Champaign bar since it opened — had stepped up when someone else was in need.
Jim Hardway said what happened to his son was "senseless."
"I'm a religious person and I've always believed that God has a plan for everybody," he said. "And I don't blame God for this or anything. I hope that someday I'll understand why it happened, but right now it's still too soon. So we'll just live life day by day, and that's all we can do. I know he would want us to live and be happy."
Mr. Pellum was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 21. He died at age 40 in 2000 in a car accident while driving between job sites in Macon County.
His brother, retired local teacher and AFL-CIO member George Pellum, said he worked for Ameritech.
"He was a pretty active guy," he said. "He enjoyed a lot of things from fishing to motorcycles to restoring old trucks and things like that. He was a family-oriented guy."
George Pellum was among those who worked to establish the workers' memorial in 2002. He said that his role was minor, and the work was a collaboration between many different people and local unions.
He said he feels that every community needs a workers' memorial.
"It means a lot to the families of those workers who've fallen on the job, to see that their brother and sister workers are remembering them and keeping a place for them in the community, where we can respect their lives as workers, respect their lives as friends and family members," George Pellum said.
"So it's very important, I think, to me, my family, but I think to all of the families who have a worker's name on that memorial. It's very respectful and very comforting. And that type of just remembrance helps out with dealing with the loss."
