Thomas Ermini Obituary

Thomas Ermini attended Rex Putnam High School in Milwaukie, OR. View the obituary, post a memory, or share a photo about Thomas Ermini.

Graduation Year	Class of 1977
Date of Passing	Nov 14, 2012
About	Oregonian, published 11/15/12: Willamette drowning victim identified as Thomas Ermini, 53, of Milwaukie Police identified the man who drowned when his pickup was washed away Wenesday in the Willamette River as Thomas Ermini, 53, of Milwaukie. A woman who survived was identified as Sandra Gracey, 46, of Milwaukie. Search boats and dive teams began working the area near Meldrum Bar Park in Gladstone at 5 p.m. Wednesday, when a Dodge pickup was swept off the gravel bar near the boat ramp at the end of Meldrum Bar Park Road. Gracey was rescued Wednesday evening by a boater flagged down by a Gladstone police officer. She was taken to Providence Milwaukie Hospital, and is expected to recover. One of their dogs was recovered after swimming to shore Wednesday evening. The other was spotted on the river's east bank shortly after 8 a.m. today, but it was too agitated to come to police. Family members, who declined to speak to reporters, were walking up and down the bank, calling the dog, hoping to bring it out of the brush. Search crews suspended their efforts late Wednesday and resumed today at dawn. Boats and divers from the Clackamas County Water Rescue Consortium formed a network of search teams, combing the banks and probing problem areas in the river. Around 5 p.m. Wednesday, a Gladstone police officer responded reports of to a white Dodge pickup truck stuck on a sandbar, said Sgt. Adam Philips, a Clackamas County Sheriff's Office spokesman. The officer said the truck was heading from the bar toward the boat ramp and was swept away by the current, Philips said. The officer was able to alert three fishermen in a nearby boat about people in the water in distress. The fishermen rescued the woman, who was treading water, Philips said. The truck remains missing in the river.