Virus deaths leave voids on factory floors

DETROIT — Lorenzo Seldon swore he could be a stand-up comedian. Instead, he worked as a union steward in the paint shop of Warren Truck Assembly Plant, where he greeted people coming through the doors each morning with a smile.

Co-workers at the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles plant in suburban Detroit said you couldn't find anyone to say a bad word about him. One fondly remembered how Seldon helped get him "out of trouble" a few times, even though they worked in different departments.

But that jovial, gregarious presence was extinguished by COVID-19. Seldon died March 25 at age 51.

His wife of 23 years, Renaye, thought her husband worked too much, and she would get annoyed by it. She only learned of his daily greeting routine after his death. It didn't surprise her.

"I knew he was a leader at the plant," Renaye Seldon, 51, told Automotive News. "They told me how much his presence was going to be missed because of that."

The assembly lines at Warren Truck and most other U.S. auto plants started back up in mid-May with a plethora of safety precautions. But they have to go on without Lorenzo Seldon and more than two dozen other UAW members who died of COVID-19.

Another Warren Truck worker, Catherine Bright Pace, used to bring in homemade cakes. She died March 27.

Tommy Hammonds, a team leader at a Mopar distribution center a few miles away, loved his job. He hardly ever missed work and put in overtime whenever he could. The 54-year-old died March 29.

It's not clear whether any of those who died became infected at work before production was halted in March, but the UAW said it didn't know of any members who caught the coronavirus and died since the plants reopened. Safety measures aimed at preventing outbreaks include mandatory face masks, daily health screenings and temperature checks, and plexiglass partitions on break room tables.

Ken Mefford, a longtime Warren Truck worker, remembered Pace as a "smiling, grand- motherly type" who used to offer him slices of her cakes for lunch.

Seldon, Mefford said, was a "real sweet guy" who often asked colleagues whether they needed anything.

Mefford had been adjusting to the new work environment until Warren Truck last week began a three-month shutdown to retool for the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. His glasses sometimes fogged up because of his mask, which was annoying, and he looked forward to the day when face coverings were no longer required.

Yet he felt safe at the plant, even knowing that the virus killed several co-workers and could still be transmitted. His colleagues won't be forgotten, but Mefford said he has to conduct his daily business.

"You miss them, and you knew they were there," said Mefford, 58. "Life goes on. You remember them, but you've gotta pay the bills."

One FCA employee who asked not to be identified said the parts plant where he worked had only a couple of positive cases during the pandemic and no deaths. But some co-workers have lost loved ones to the virus and it weighs on them.

Before clocking in, everyone passes through an environmentally controlled temporary building while maintaining social distancing. Workers have to stop at a thermal-imaging camera, which the worker described as akin to getting a picture taken for a driver's license.

Signs scattered around the plant encourage employees to practice Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Hand sanitizer stations are available along with sanitizing sprays. Equipment and common areas such as break rooms and locker rooms are cleaned periodically.

The worker recently saw a human resources official and a local union leader touring the plant to check that safety protocols were being observed. He said he was "still a bit nervous upon returning" after the shutdown but hoped the additional measures would "protect me, my family and my co-workers."

The diligent efforts to fortify plants for the COVID-19 era underscore just how susceptible the industry's manufacturing workers were in the early days of the pandemic.

The first U.S. case of the new coronavirus popped up Jan. 20 in Washington state, but the seriousness of the situation wouldn't truly grip the nation until March, when the World Health Organization declared a pandemic. President Donald Trump predicted Feb. 26 that the number of U.S. cases soon would be down to zero.

With that backdrop, Lorenzo Seldon was still faithfully reporting to work in February, when he and his wife lost their sense of taste.

By March 12, he was off the job for what was thought to be a flare-up of bronchitis. On March 20, he couldn't hold food down and was taken to the emergency room by his wife, who wasn't allowed to sit at the hospital with him.

He was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 22 and died three days later. At that point, there were 68,440 cases in the U.S., according to the CDC.

Seldon was a devoted Detroit Lions fan who often traveled to away games. He was a skilled cook known for his grilled chicken and 7UP pound cake. Renaye Seldon said she has the cake recipe but can't make it like him.

His granddaughter was the love of his life. He has a grandson on the way whom he won't get to meet.

"He'll be missed on that angle because he would definitely have him in every sport," Renaye Seldon said of her husband, who coached his two sons and nephews in baseball, basketball and football. "That's just what he did. [You] definitely have to play a sport until you're old enough to say that's not what you want to do."

Renaye Seldon also contracted the virus, but she recovered. Having watched how rapidly it took her husband, she now worries about her 31-year-old son, Lonnie Hooper, who works at FCA's Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio. Hooper said he's hoping to take medical leave to help protect the health of his pregnant girlfriend and 5-year-old daughter.

In an interview this month, Seldon said she believed the automakers had restarted their plants too soon. She said she understood the economic importance but noted that there were continued cases of workers testing positive. Talk of a potential second wave of the virus has made her antsy during what already is a stressful period for her family.

"Before they went back, I think everyone should have been tested," Seldon said. "You can go in, and they can say you don't have a fever, so you can work. I never had a fever, I never had a cough, and I tested positive."

The UAW also is pushing for all members to be tested at regular intervals but has acknowledged that such capability isn't yet available.

FCA said any hourly or salaried employee in the Detroit area exhibiting symptoms before or during a shift is referred for COVID-19 testing through one of five Beaumont Health testing centers designated for the automaker's employees.

A spokeswoman said FCA was targeting same-day appointments, with results available in 24 hours or less. Similar testing arrangements have been made for employees in other areas through Ascension St. Vincent in Kokomo, Ind., Swedish American Hospital near Belvidere, Ill., and ProMedica Toledo Hospital.

Hammonds was sent home from the Mopar warehouse in Center Line, Mich., on March 10 with a severe cough. The plan was for him to take a week off of work, but his condition didn't improve. His respiratory issue was bad enough, but soon, like Lorenzo Seldon, he couldn't hold any food down. When he went to a hospital after a week, he was told he didn't have any symptoms and was sent home. He began losing weight and passing out.

Hammonds returned to the hospital later in March and was diagnosed with COVID-19 around March 27, said longtime friend Rose Dawson, 54. Oxygen treatments initially helped him feel better, but he died just days after his diagnosis. He left behind a son and daughter.

His death doesn't feel real for co-worker Olivia Tripp, who called Hammonds her "big brother." They hired in at the same time 24 years ago and were always together. They used to split food because they felt they were eating too much on the job.

Now, she's trying to get on the best she can without him. Tripp, 51, has asthma and said it's "crazy" that she didn't get COVID-19 being around Hammonds so much.

She keeps her distance at work, while wearing a mask and gloves, and says she feels safe there. But she isn't sure the mask is healthy for her, with her condition.

She'll miss her friend, who loved life and was always smiling and laughing.

"We grew in there; we got old," Tripp said. "We started in there young, skinny. We gained weight, hair gray. We started off as the young kids; now the younger kids call us uncle and auntie."

Hammonds was the life of the party, Dawson said. He knew all of the latest dances and sported stylish blazers. He loved being around his friends and family.

"He went to work, no matter how late we hung out, or whatever was going on. He was going to work," Dawson said. "He had a great passion for his job."