Peter Randall Livingston, 53, a teacher at a Dayton charter school and longtime Scout leader, was killed Saturday in Hocking Hills Forest following a rappelling accident.
An incident report released by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources shows that Livingston had been rappelling in the forest located near Hocking Hills State Park when he fell about 125. When the park officer arrived, local EMS services were already trying to revive Livingston, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Columbus Dispatch reported Livingston’s group had finished for the day and he was lowering a gear-filled backpack when he fell in front of several Scouts.
It is the fourth serious accident — and third fatality — in the past four weeks near the park. On April 27, Josias Rodriguez, 19, of Columbus, fell 130 feet to his death. He had been hiking with friends when he left the marked trail and climbed a rock face, but fell as he tried to climb down, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
That same day, a 23-year-old woman from Chillicothe was in a different part of the park when she and her boyfriend left a trail and walked along a cliff’s edge. The woman, who slipped and fell 100 feet, was flown to an area hospital and survived.
Livingston, who retired from the U.S. Air Force, started teaching math at Dayton Business Technology High School in August. The charter school is at 348 W. First St. in Dayton.
“Mr. Livingston has been with us a short amount of time, since August, but he’s had a huge impact on our school,” said principal Phillitia Charlton on Monday. “He was a very caring person.”
Livingston brought energy and compassion to the classroom, where he served kids ages 16 to 21 in an “alternative education setting,” Charlton said. “Whatever was needed, he was there to do it for us.”
The students were taking the news “very hard,” she said.
Doug Nelson, council executive and CEO of the Miami Valley Council of the Boy Scouts of America, said Livingston had long served the scouts. The organization held a memorial service Sunday night for the boys, who ranged in age from 14 to 17, who were with him when he fell, Nelson said.
“It’s just a very tragic accident,” Nelson said. “Pete was a great guy, very dedicated to scouting, a great family man, a leader, a role model, a mentor and a good friend.”
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