A service employee with the Jacksonville, Fla. Branch of Sunbelt Rentals died Oct. 23, after being pinned underneath a backhoe.
The victim, 58-year-old Dennis Combs, suffered a crushed chest, several broken ribs and a spinal injury after the hydraulic system of the bucket he was working on collapsed inside the service bay.
Another employee rushed over with another piece of machinery to lift the bucket off of Combs who was taken by air ambulance to Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center where he died.
A native of Waterloo, Iowa, Combs served in the Navy for six years after graduating from high school. He is survived by his daughter, Kimberly Tingen; a son, Dennis Scott Combs; his mother, Marcella Van Eman; a brother, Dwane Combs; 2 granddaughters, Aimee Tingen and Kyli Tingen; and an adopted son, Jonathan Tulabut.
