Unknown Diver fatality on USS Oriskany (Pensacola)

[chaad]

This hasn't hit the news yet, but it has been confirmed on local diving facebook groups.

One diver died inside the USS Oriskany on February 28, 2025. The diver's wife posted the note below on Facebook. It is the most detailed information currently available. The deceased diver's name has been released but the news stories on his death don't mention it was a diving accident.

 

[kensuf]

RIP

 

[Rilelen]

What a heartbreaking post…my thoughts are with his wife and family.

 

[EternalCompression]

To those that are left behind.....



Do not stand at my grave and weep

I am not there. I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on snow.



I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush

I am the swift uplifting rush



Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;

I am not there. I did not die.





RIP

Fair seas and following winds.....

 

[EricSm]

Cut and paste from what Google says

Atkinson, who served on the department’s water rescue team as a scuba diver, retired in 2017.
Copyright 2025 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com

Atkinson joined the department in 1991. In the late summer of 1996, the department's water rescue team was created, and Atkinson was a part of the team until his promotion to Lieutenant. He retired from the department as a Captain in 2016.

Donate to Support the Atkinson Family After Tragic Loss, organized by Allison Marshall

On behalf of the Wegner Family, we are setting up this page to help the… Allison Marshall needs your support for Support the Atkinson Family After Tragic Loss

www.gofundme.com

Wichita, Kansas - Captain Steve K. Atkinson, devoted husband, father, grandfather, friend, and retired Captain of the Sedgwick County Fire Department, passed on February 28, 2025.

He is survived by his wife, Bonnie; children, Diane Albert and Timothy Atkinson.