Darrell Mills would “give his shirt off his back to help others,” according to friends, but now they’re asking others to step up to help the family of a local man tragically killed on the factory floor on Monday.

Mills, 58, was a tool maker at Saturn Tool & Die Inc. in Oldcastle and, according to his family, standing at a giant press when a heavy die — a specialized machine tool — fell on him.

Essex OPP, EMS paramedics and Tecumseh firefighters were dispatched to the company’s Hennin Drive address shortly before 10 a.m. on March 28. He was taken by ambulance to Windsor Regional Hospital’s Ouellette campus where he was later pronounced dead.

“Darrell was 100 per cent about family — all he cared about were his kids and me. We were a very, very close family,” said wife Michelle Tremblay-Mills.

“Darrell was a hard-working, honest guy — he went to work to provide for his family,” said Leo Lucier, a machinist who once worked with Mills at Saturn. Lucier set up a ‘Please Let’s Help the Mills Family Out’ GoFundMe page to assist with funeral and other expenses after the family lost its main breadwinner.

In preparation for his cremation Wednesday, Mills was dressed not in a suit but in his favourite outfit, blue shorts and a fish T-shirt he would don on southern vacations. “It’s what he lived in in Florida,” said Tremblay-Mills, adding it wasn’t until in recent years that her husband discovered there was a lot more to life than work.

A memorial visitation is being held Saturday at the Families First South Windsor funeral home at 3260 Dougall Ave. from 2 p.m., with a celebration of life to follow at 3 p.m.

The family rushed to the hospital after getting word Mills had been injured. But he was in critical condition, and after succumbing to his injuries his wife, oldest son and daughter were advised not to go into the room to say their goodbyes. “They said all we could do was hug his arm,” said Tremblay-Mills.

Emotions still raw, the family expressed some bitterness during an interview with the Star on Wednesday. Tremblay-Mills said two of the children went to the company’s Tecumseh office to seek answers, and daughter Danielle, 19, screamed accusations at one of the bosses. “She had to let it out. She never talks back, but she had to get that out,” said her mother.

“He was a good man and the best worker they could have ever had — he never missed a day,” said Tremblay-Mills. She said Darrell didn’t care about having “things” but loved his family and just spending time with them, including movie nights with a fire. He liked being outdoors. “Ojibway Park, that was his peaceful place,” she said.

Two inspectors with the Ministry of Labour have been assigned to investigate the latest local workplace death. The ministry issued an order to Saturn Tool & Die on Monday, followed by four further orders issued on Tuesday. No further details could be divulged “at this time,” a ministry spokesperson told the Star.

The company did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“He’s not just an employee,” said daughter Danielle. “He’s a husband, he’s a friend and he’s a dad — he’s my dad.”

Son Darrell Jr. said his father, originally from New Brunswick, had a well-paying auto parts job at Benteler in Oshawa for over 20 years. When that plant was closed, he was offered a job at a Benteler facility in Windsor, the family bought a home in LaSalle, but that factory shut down only a year later.

“There was no buyout, no pension, nothing — everybody was left with nothing,” said Darrell Jr. What followed were lean years, but there was always an income.

“All he cared about was a steady paycheque — he only cared about his family,” said Darrell Jr., even if it was lower pay and longer hours. On the side, he picked up school books, attended night school and upgraded his Grade 8 education to Grade 12.

“I just want him to be remembered for who he was — he was a great person,” said Darrell Jr., who is 29. The deceased is also survived by son Eric, 26

A LaSalle neighbour helped Mills land a job at Saturn about 15 years ago. Darrell Jr. said he himself went through a difficult patch at one time and his father managed to get him a job there as well. Working on the line and keeping a watchful eye on his son, “dad thought it would be good for me — it did wonders for me.”

Saturn has a large 2,500-tonne transfer press for production stamping of large components used in the automotive industry.

“Everything we do is dangerous, everything can kill you,” former coworker Lucier said of work at the many tool, die and mould shops operating locally to supply the automotive sector with tools and parts.

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