Jun 18, 2026 – Abby Luciano/North Shore News

Nearly 70 years later, the last survivor of the Second Narrows bridge collapse continues to honour his former co-workers.

Lucien Lessard, 97, stood in New Brighton Park in Vancouver Wednesday afternoon to read the names of the 19 people who died in the tragedy.

“I knew them very well. I even knew some of their family and friends,” Lessard said.

It was part of a ceremony that family and friends, iron workers, labour groups and dignitaries came together to mark the 68th anniversary of one of the worst industrial disasters in B.C.

On June 17, 1958 at around 3:40 p.m. Lessard and his co-workers were working on the bridge before it suddenly collapsed, sending them plunging into Burrard Inlet. Most who died were iron workers. A diver trying to recover one of their bodies died shortly after. And four more workers’ lives were lost before construction finished in 1960.

For Lessard, he felt lucky to be alive, facing a broken arm and leg and spent four months in the hospital.

To mark their memory, 19 red roses were in a bouquet, each symbolizing the life, family and legacy carried forward by those who knew and loved them. Among those roses, a white one stood apart, representing the remaining survivor Lessard.

The memorial has been going strong for over 20 years, organized by Ironworkers Local 97. In 1994, the bridge was officially renamed to the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing to remember the lives lost.

“They were fathers, sons, brothers and friends. They were proud tradespeople, skilled iron workers who showed up to do a dangerous job to help shape this city and its future,” said Paul Beacom, president of Ironworkers Local 97. “This work was hard, the risks were many and their sacrifice was immense.”

In keeping with a tradition started by Lessard’s daughter, he passed an iron rose to a third-year apprentice iron worker. She thanked the union for the supporter she received from other workers who helped train her and boost her confidence along the way.

After the disaster, an investigation pinned the collapse on a miscalculation by bridge engineers that wasn’t caught by plan designers, resulting in a temporary support beam cut too short.

MLA for North Vancouver-Lonsdale and Minister of Infrastructure Bowinn Ma said the collapse is a stark reminder of the work engineers are tasked to do.

“We can’t forget what happened,” she said. “Those workers whose lives were lost, … their families were changed by that loss forever.”

Read the full article at nsnews.com.