[7/29/03]A welder first employed at LeTourneau about 30 years ago died Monday morning after an accident there.

Joe T. Smith Sr., 58, 60 Kirkland Road, was reportedly struck in the head about 6:19 a.m. Monday, Warren County Deputy Coroner Larry Chisley said.

Smith was taken to River Region Medical Center before being transferred by helicopter to University Medical Center in Jackson, where he was pronounced dead at 8:27 a.m., Chisley said.

The accident remained under investigation by the company late Monday afternoon, said Donald Cross, vice president of the company’s Vicksburg Marine Construction facility. The coroner’s office was also continuing its investigation, Chisley said this morning.

Smith was “a good long-term employee, a good friend and an excellent worker,” said Cross, who added that Smith had worked for the company since more than 30 years ago.

“He was one of those people who everyone liked,” said Kenneth Mullins, a supervisor at LeTourneau who had worked with Smith for about eight years. “He was a father of three kids and six grandkids. He was just good people. He’s going to be sorely missed.”

Smith’s two sons work at LeTourneau, and his daughter lives in Hattiesburg.

Fisher Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements, which were incomplete.

LeTourneau’s local operation employs about 777 people. It builds rigs that drill exploratory wells in search of oil offshore.

The fabrication area here is on the east bank of the Mississippi River where more than 55 rigs have been built, then slid into the river, floated to the Gulf of Mexico and to another shipyard for final outfitting.