Utah CEO And Teen Daughter Killed In Freak Bulldozer Accident
A 57-year-old father and his teenage daughter died last week after a mini bulldozer crushed their car in a roadway accident, Utah authorities reported.
Richard David Hendrickson, the CEO of outdoor furniture company Lifetime Products, and his 16-year-old daughter Sally were killed July 6 in Ogden Canyon when a mini bulldozer fell off a tow truck traveling in the opposite direction and landed on Hendrickson’s car.
Utah’s Department of Public Safety confirmed Monday that the eastbound tow truck was turning on State Route 39 when the bulldozer “broke free” at 12:49 p.m., as Hendrickson pulled up beside him in the opposite lane.
Hendrickson and his daughter were pronounced dead on the scene; his wife and two of their other kids, also in the car, were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
“Richard was a friend and incredible leader,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “We are heartbroken by his tragic passing with his daughter Sally. We mourn with the surviving members of his family and pray they will find comfort and healing.”
Vince Rhoton, executive vice president at Lifetime Products, said Tuesday that the family had been wakeboarding and waterskiing at a nearby reservoir before “the very, very random accident.”
“They chose to come up the Narrow Canyon because it was such a beautiful day,” Rhoton told People.
He remembers Hendrickson as a good father who leaned into his children’s interests, like raising the family’s chickens.
An online petition to regulate vehicle types permitted on Highway 39 has since received nearly 4,000 signatures. It notes that the two-lane road is “a lifeline” for locals, but that it’s dangerous, “flanked by the Ogden River on one side and mountain cliffs on the other.”
“Let’s stand together for the safety of our loved ones and residents of Weber County,” the petition urged.
