Carpenter is killed in elevator accident

A carpenter making repairs at a Linden funeral home was killed yesterday morning when an elevator platform used to lift coffins crushed him, police said.

Giorgio Ferrara, 69, who had done contractual work at Krowicki-McCracken Funeral Home for many years, died when he was caught between the platform and a wall, Linden Capt. Raymond Tyra said.

An employee who had gone out for coffee spoke with Ferrara minutes before the 10 a.m. accident. When he returned, the employee discovered the Elizabeth man unconscious on the elevator platform in the basement, police said.

The funeral home's slow-moving elevator has separate on and off switches, Tyra said. The elevator began to move -- it was not known whether Ferrara had thrown the switch or someone else had had inadvertently pressed it -- and he was unable to turn it off in time.

Tools were found near the scene, but Ferrara wasn't working on the elevator itself.

"He was tinkering around, making repairs," Tyra said. The carpenter apparently was on the platform's edge when the accident occurred.

Ferrara had done remodeling work for the funeral home in the past.

Five employees were in the building at the time of Ferrara's death, police said, along with a funeral director and a secretary. The funeral home was preparing for a service when the death was discovered, Tyra said.

Ferrara had been a good friend of funeral home owner Jacob Krowicki's, the captain said. Krowicki accompanied a Linden police officer to Elizabeth, where the Ferrara's wife, Antonetta, was told what had happened.

Authorities, who are calling the death an accident, contacted the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration to investigate whether any workplace violation may have occurred at the East St. Georges Avenue location. Leni Fortson, an OSHA spokeswoman, said the agency was looking into the matter and a staffer had been on the scene.

The agency does not comment on ongoing investigations, which can take up to six months, Fortson said.

Reached twice by phone yesterday, employees at Krowicki-McCracken Funeral Home referred all inquiries to police.

Ferrara had been a member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Local 715 for the past 44 years, according to business manager Michael D'Agostino. Ferrara had retired as a carpenter for the Elizabeth school board. Before that, he had worked for many years with Smorol Construction in Rahway....