Rhode Island man killed in fall from Milwaukee's Kilbourn Avenue Bridge remembered as an avid traveler, devoted father to 6 children

Richard and Rose-Marie Dujardin were due to fly home to Rhode Island on Monday, but before they left Milwaukee, they wanted to make it to noon Mass.

The Dujardins were walking across the Kilbourn Avenue Bridge, headed toward the historic Old St. Mary’s Catholic Church to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption, a holy day in the Catholic faith.

Richard, 77, was dressed in his usual outfit, a suit jacket and tie, and was checking his iPad for directions to the church.

Then, suddenly, tragedy struck.

The bridge began to rise, splitting in the middle. Richard was still on it.

Rose-Marie had been doing a fitness routine, walking ahead of Richard and walking back to him, and she made it to the other side in time.

Richard would never arrive at the church. He died in a horrific fall from the bridge as it was opening, cutting short the retired journalist’s vibrant life.

His wife and six adult children remembered him as an avid traveler, devout Catholic and passionate storyteller.

“He’d wake up each day with a new, fresh look on life,” his son, Jean-Paul Dujardin, said. “Optimistic and gentle and just a wonderful father.”

Richard Dujardin 'really tried valiantly to save his own life'

Some details have emerged about how Richard died, but questions remain as to how the bridge operator — controlling it remotely from another bridge tower — could have missed him in surveillance footage.

His family in a statement said they met with Milwaukee police on Wednesday. They "are confident that police are conducting a complete and diligent investigation to get to the bottom of what happened here."

Richard used a hearing aid, walked slowly and was consulting the map on his iPad as he crossed the bridge, according to a report from the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office.

"The lights, bells, and arms came down at each end of the bridge, however Richard was hard of hearing and it is thought that he didn't notice them," the medical examiner’s report said.

As out-of-town visitors, Richard and Rose-Marie didn’t know the bridge under their feet could open, the family said.

Richard tried to catch up to his wife when the bridge began to open, but he couldn't make it to her in time. He grabbed onto the side railing and held on for one to two minutes as the bridge continued to rise, the report said.

He held on as the bridge deck rose to a 90-degree angle but eventually lost his grip and fell 71 feet to the concrete street behind him, the report said.

“He really tried valiantly to save his own life,” his son, Peter Dujardin, said. “He never wanted to die young.”

For Richard’s children, it’s been painful to imagine their father hanging from the bridge, clinging to the railing.

“The fear that he was facing as he hung there,” son Philip Dujardin said, is something they’re trying not to dwell on.

“That’s the most upsetting part of this, is just the sheer horror. You think about the free-falling, and holding on for dear life,” Philip said.

Son Jeffrey Dujardin wonders if he himself could’ve held on for as long as his father did.

“It’s very impressive that a man of his age was able to muster up the strength to hold on for that long,” he said.

Dujardin covered religion as a longtime reporter and even met the pope

Born in 1944 in New York City, Richard was the oldest of four boys and the son of a merchant marine.

He attended high school on Long Island and college at Fordham University and was proud of his Catholic education, his family said.

After graduating with a degree in journalism, Richard got a job at the Providence Journal in Rhode Island, where he'd go on to work for 47 years.

As a young adult, he served as an officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve for three years, making regular visits to the Mediterranean and Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, according to an account of his life published by the Religion News Association.

Richard returned to the paper and spent 36 years as the religion reporter. He covered both the local faith communities of Rhode Island and eastern Massachusetts and international events, such as the installations of three popes in Rome.

He quickly learned that he'd never be bored on the religion beat. In a conversation with his son, Jean-Paul, he once compared it to a river full of fish.

"You just had to put your net in and then fish would swim right into your net," Jean-Paul recalled he said.

A cherished memory was Pope John Paul II's visit to San Antonio in 1987, where Richard served as the pool reporter. He stayed with the pope throughout the day and sent updates to the other reporters covering the trip.

He served as the Religion News Association's president in the 1990s and in 2015, he won its lifetime achievement award.

Travel and grandchildren kept him active in retirement

In retirement, Richard kept a busy schedule. He read the Providence newspaper every day, picked up new hobbies and traveled regularly with Rose-Marie to sightsee and to visit their 12 grandchildren.

"Every day there would be something going on," Jean-Paul said. "You'd think that I would be there to help them out. But they were always there to help me out."

In recent years, Richard had learned to play the organ and to speak French. He was often found with a camera in his hand.

Richard and his wife built up so many hotel rewards points that his children joked they sometimes took trips "just to use the points."

The couple had traveled to Milwaukee for a conference. Earlier in the weekend, he walked from their downtown hotel to see Marquette University’s St. Joan of Arc Chapel with their daughter, Julianne Grew.

He wasn't "the speediest walker," Julianne said. But "he never complained."

Julianne remembered him as a devoted dad and grandfather.

"He was always just very supportive and enthusiastic and engaged with people easily," she said.

He was a passionate storyteller

Richard's life took him around the world. And he loved telling people about it.

He was a great storyteller, his children said, and it seemed he had an endless supply of them.

Maybe it was from his time in the Navy, or an adventure from his childhood. But it was always something exciting, and often something they hadn't heard before.

Since his unexpected death, his children have been wondering: if he'd lived, how would he have told this story?

"We wish he could tell a story about this event, tell us the whole harrowing tale," Peter said.

The family finds comfort in their strong faith, "knowing that we'll see him again. Knowing that we can still communicate with him," Philip said.

Richard and Rose-Marie had so many plans.

"My main sadness right now is knowing all the things that he wanted to do," Rose-Marie said.

Her voice choked with tears before she could finish the rest of the sentence: "And that he'll never get a chance to do them."

Contact Sophie Carson at (414) 223-5512 or scarson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SCarson_News.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kilbourn Avenue Bridge fall victim Richard Dujardin was father of 6