93-Year-Old War Vet Dies During Power Outage That Lasted 21 Hours

PITTSBURGH — Family and friends are mourning the death of Thomas Raith, a 93-year-old Korean War veteran from Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood, as many others share their concerns over how he could be in a position to die the way he did.

Raith’s daughter, Janet Zreliak, visited her father early in the day on Sunday, but became worried when he did not pick up the phone on Monday morning after a major storm rolled through the neighborhood the night before, WTAE reported.

Zreliak found her father dead inside the same home he had lived for more than 60 years, according to the report. A power outage that neighbors said lasted 21 hours caused Raith’s oxygen equipment to lose electricity and, without access to his landline or cell phone, had no way to call for help.

"This was uncalled-for,” Zreliak told WTAE. “Why would power be off for that many hours?"

Zreliak looked for an answer from Duquesne Light Company, the energy service provider that serves much of the Pittsburgh area. The company told WTAE in a statement that Sunday’s storm was the most severe one of the year and “left widespread damage across our service territory.”

Another storm hit the area on Monday and “impacted our restoration efforts,” the statement continued.

"More than 250 line workers and field crews have been working around the clock to restore power to 20,000 people."

More than 400 Duquesne Light customers remained without power as of Wednesday afternoon.

The death of Raith, a U.S. Army veteran who served a tour of duty in Korea and was later known as the “watch battery replacement man” at the Aspinwall VFW Flea Market, has hit the community hard, with many people online questioning how something like this could happen with the technological advancements available in 2021.

“In this day and age, there should be a database in every community as to who requires electricity to stay alive,” one person commented on a WGAL story.