Video: Family, friends, and ironworkers gather to remember Bobby Harvey
Ironworker Frank Murray and hundreds of other like him wouldn't think of staying away from the wake for Bobby Harvey.
"We're all tight, because we know we take a risk every day," said Murray, of Melrose, who had worked with Harvey.
"We definitely take care of our own because it's all we've got," he said. "He was a funny kid and a smart kid, very smart and a very good ironworker."
Family, friends, and Local 7 ironworkers streamed into Keohane Funeral Home Sunday to pay their respects to Harvey, 28, who died when a leg of the Goliath crane collapsed on Thursday while being dismantled at the former Fore River Shipyard.
"He was an all-around good kid. His family adored him. It was just a happy, happy family," said Maureen Barnes, of Woburn, who grew up with his mother, Susan.
"My heart breaks for them, for the whole family. No one deserves anything like this. It shouldn't have happened," she said.
Harvey's uncle, Bob McLatchey, said about 1,000 people came to the wake, many of them Local 7 ironworkers.
David Perry of Quincy said he worked as a steward with a group including Harvey last winter.
"He was the nicest guy in the whole gang, just a real nice and all-around true person, a gentleman and a good guy," he said.
"I was the oldest guy there, and he was always asking, 'Can I get you anything?' Everyone I've talked to that's known him says the same thing," he said.
Many ironworkers who didn't know Harvey personally came to support his family and honor Harvey.
"It's part of the cohesiveness of ironworkers; we consider each one a brother, so when something like this happens, we all come out," said Arny Krane of Salisbury Beach, who said he didn't know Harvey.
Harvey, who grew up in Quincy, lived in Weymouth and worked as a connector. He died when a portion of the huge Goliath broke loose and crashed to the ground.
The cause of the collapse remains under investigation.
Stephanie Choate may be reached at schoate@ledger.com .
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