The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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January 13, 2008

Commissioner dies in hotel fall

Mark Fischenich

MANKATO — Greg Orth, a Washington County commissioner and longtime Woodbury police chief, died in Mankato Saturday afternoon following a fall from his fourth-floor room at the Holiday Inn Civic Center.

Orth, 60, fell from the room to the indoor pool area in the atrium of the downtown hotel at about 1:20 p.m. Saturday, according to Mankato police, who are treating the death as an accident.

“We’ve ruled out suicide, as far as we can tell, and we’re just treating it as an accident,” said Commander Matt DuRose of the Mankato Department of Public Safety.

The rooms overlooking the pool at the Holiday Inn do not have balconies, but the rooms have doors that open onto the large four-story-high atrium area with a railing just outside the door.

DuRose said Orth is believed to have been alone in the room at the time of the fall. With most witnesses already interviewed, DuRose said there was no indication of the circumstances leading up to the fall and there was no immediate evidence one way or the other whether alcohol was a factor.

DuRose said that toxicology tests would be done if there’s an investigation by the medical examiners office.

Joe Leonard, the general manager of the Holiday Inn, said this is the first time a guest has fallen from one of the rooms overlooking the atrium.

Orth fell onto the carpet-covered concrete floor at the bottom of the atrium, and suffered head and leg injuries. Trainers from the University of Minnesota-Duluth women’s hockey team, staying at the hotel as part of a scheduled visit to play against the MSU Mavericks, reportedly were nearby at the time of the fall and worked to stabilize Orth until the ambulance arrived.

A widower whose wife had died several years ago from cancer, Orth was elected in 2006 to the Washington County Board, representing the district that covers most of Woodbury.

While Orth has attended meetings in Mankato as part of commissions related to his service on the county board, the weekend visit was a personal trip, DuRose said.

“He and a friend were just down visiting, just to get out of the Cities,” he said.

Orth served for 31 years in the Woodbury Department of Public Safety, first as a patrol officer and for the final 27 years as police chief or public safety director, according to city records at the east-metro suburb. At the time of his retirement in 2002, he was the longest-serving police chief in the state and had presided over the department’s growth from six officers to 48.

“It’s a huge loss for our city, it’s a huge loss for our police department,” said Woodbury Public Safety Director Lee Vague, who was hired by Orth in 1989. “... He was a community-oriented police chief before that was a buzz phrase.”

Washington County Board Vice Chairwoman Myra Peterson said Sunday that Orth’s career-long commitment to public service continued when he joined the board.

“He was just a fine gentleman, good to work with,” Peterson said. “He was just a good county commissioner.”

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