TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) – A death at the Goodyear Plant in Topeka is now being investigated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The man who died is 61-year-old James Lay Jr. of Topeka.  He was a contractor employed by Kansas Personnel Services Inc.

Lay’s family describes him as a “give you the shirt off his back” type of guy who will be deeply missed.

“He loved life and all of us,” said his wife Cindy Lay.

For the last few months Lay was working here at the Goodyear Plant in Topeka, pulling fax orders.  A job he took to keep himself busy after retirement.

His wife Cindy joked he always had to be doing something.  She says he was willing to do anything for anybody even if it meant he and his family had to sacrifice something.

Cindy tells KSNT News that on Monday night workers who found him say something fell and hit him on the head.

“There was some kind of commotion they heard and nobody thought anything about it.  Somebody needed an order and he wasn’t at the window to get it and something fell and hit him in the head and they couldn’t get his pulse back.”

Lay’s wife says that story is all she’s been told about the incident, now being investigated by OSHA.

As investigators work to find out the exact cause of what went on inside the plant, the family is planning Lay’s funeral.

Remembering his giving spirit and love for what they call, their Brood of Dogs.

OSHA has six months to complete their investigation into Lay’s death.Get breaking news, weather and traffic on the go. Download our News App and our Weather App for your phone and tablet. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.