Soldier Field fall 'a senseless accident'

Stuart Haverty was a hardworking young man who loved his Chicago sports. He got a part-time job in a machine shop in high school, bought a house at 20 and continued working at the shop until his death Sunday at 23.

Haverty died after a roughly 50-foot fall at Soldier Field where he'd been watching the Bears beat the Eagles with his boss, Bruce Glass, and four other employees of Fox Tool and Manufacturing in Woodstock.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office ruled it an accidental death after a Monday afternoon autopsy.

As Glass tells it, the group split up for the game. Glass and Haverty sat in the 330 section on the southwest corner of the stadium and the four others sat on the north end. Glass has season tickets, so he invited some of his employees to the game.

He and Haverty had a great time, high-fiving each other and those around them after all the good plays during the first half. Haverty drank a couple beers before the game but didn't have any during the game itself.

The two men left their seats with about 30 seconds left before half time. They were going to meet up with the four others and talk about trading seats. But Haverty said he had to go to the bathroom first.

“I said, ‘Fine, I'll wait right here for you.' Glass said Monday. “That's the last time I saw him.”

Haverty's grandfather said he spent Thanksgiving with his family and was happier than he has ever been. He had three birds at his home in Harvard and was a fan of Frisbee golf, Charles Haverty said.

“That was his thing. I'm a golfer, he's a Frisbee golfer,” he said.

Charles Haverty thinks his grandson was climbing over a railing at Soldier Field where smoking is prohibited to grab a smoke in secret.

He said his grandson could never kick the habit. He used to sneak outside his grandparents' home to smoke on the back deck, too.

“It was just a senseless accident,” Charles Haverty said.

Glass said he specifically instructed his five employees not to smoke in Soldier Field. He didn't want any complaints registered to his season ticket number. Glass said Haverty told him he was going to the bathroom. He doesn't know if Haverty made a detour to sneak a cigarette.

Looking back on seven years as Haverty's direct supervisor, Glass said he was a hard worker who impressed those around him. He was just about to complete his apprenticeship at the machine shop.

“He was a great employee to have and everybody here is just in shock,” Glass said. “It sent a terrible shake through the entire organization.”

Haverty was an “entertainment fan” according to his uncle, Tim Haverty. He liked the Bears, but also the Blackhawks and the White Sox mostly he liked having friends over for the sporting events.

“He liked to make it a social thing,” Tim Haverty said.

Tim Haverty is the youngest of his brothers and spent some time hanging out with his nieces and nephews at the kids' table. They haven't played with Hot Wheels or pretended to be super heroes in years, but the memories have stuck with him.

“I still fondly look back at the days we had family get-togethers and I'd get to tell these guys how it works in the world,” Haverty said.