Person:David Tullis (41)

Ohio Deaths, 1958-2000: Name: DAVID LAMAR TULLIS Gender: Male Date of Death: January 17, 2000 Birth Date: August 2, 1936 Volume: 32282 Certificate: 008886 Autopsy: Y Social Security Number: 287363585 Father's Surname: TULLIS Time of Death: 4:05 PM Marital Status: married Hispanic Origin: Not Hispanic Place of Death: other Years of Schooling: 15 Certifier: Coroner Branch of Service: Method of Disposition: Burial Mother's Surname: CONWAY Race: White Birth Place: CLARK, Ohio Residence: MADISON, Ohio Age: 63 years

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CO-WORKERS MOURN DEATH OF MAN IN APPARENT FALL FROM GRAIN SILO Published: Wednesday, January 19, 2000 Columbus (OH) Dispatch NEWS 13D By Don Baird Dispatch Staff Reporter MECHANICSBURG, Ohio -- Gray skies only made the day gloomier at Champaign Landmark yesterday, as employees grieved for a popular co- worker and a federal safety agency began a mandatory investigation of the worker's death.

David L. Tullis, 63, a cattle breeder known for his keen sense of humor and compassion for others, apparently fell 96 feet from the top of one of the farm cooperative's five 500,000-bushel grain silos Monday, said Mechanicsburg police Sgt. Tim Bostic. Tullis was atop the silo checking the level of the soybeans stored inside.

A passer-by alerted workers at the grain-storage facility at 4:08 p.m. that a man was lying on the ground at the base of one of the silos.

Officer Doug Smith performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Tullis after finding no pulse. Members of the Mechanicsburg Emergency Squad also tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:35 p.m.

Two investigators from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration were at the co-op yesterday to determine whether the death signaled a violation of federal safety regulations, said Dennis Collins, OSHA assistant area director.

Although police said Tullis was not wearing a safety harness when the accident occurred, Collins said it is unclear whether such a harness would have been appropriate.

It will be at least two weeks before the results of the federal investigation are known, he added.

"Obviously, if someone falls, that's a concern, Collins said. "Any time you have somebody killed, . . . we're going to investigate it.

The cause of the fatal fall is a mystery, Landmark spokesman Gary Ledford said.

Just before workers Stanley Delaney and John Sanders climbed down from making repairs atop the silo, they glanced toward the area where they had observed Tullis lowering a weighted tape into the silo to measure the contents, Ledford said. They did not see Tullis and thought he already had reached the ground safely.

The area where Tullis was working has a catwalk, stairs and handrails, he said.

"He could have had a heart attack, Ledford said.

For their investigation, federal investigators asked Ledford to produce documents related to safety training, he said.

Meanwhile, Ledford called the mood at Landmark "very somber.

Tullis was grain superintendent at Landmark, where he had worked since 1992.

From 1982 to 1992, Tullis served on Champaign Landmark's board of directors. He was a past president of the Ohio Cattlemen's Association and a longtime 4-H adviser who was a familiar fixture at the county fair.

"He was just fun to have around, Ledford said.

Tullis loved to play harmless pranks on his co-workers, he said. "I have never known him to have a bad day.

"He would bend over backward to do anything for anybody if he could do it, Landmark bookkeeper Becky Bumgarner said.