East Bay, RI East Bay Newspapers Thursday, December 15, 2005

 Former Portsmouth resident dies in fall from Alabama bridge

 PORTSMOUTH — A former Portsmouth man fell to his death from an Alabama bridge Friday night while attempting to help his wife who had been involved in traffic accident there. Michael Medeiros, 59, who grew up in Portsmouth and attended Warren High School (before Portsmouth had a high school), apparently went over the bridge's barrier railing in an attempt to step away from traffic. Alabama State Police told the Tuscaloosa News that in the dark, Mr. Medeiros was probably unaware that he was even on a bridge. The newspapers reported that Mr. Medeiros was driving behind his wife Nikki in the southbound lane of Interstate 20/59 when several 18-foot flatbed trailers fell off a truck and into the roadway. Nikki Medeiros' car collided with another vehicle driven by Angelina Spyre as they attempted to avoid the trailers. Mr. Medeiros then pulled to a stop behind them and got out to check on his wife. He fell an estimated 70 feet to the ground below and was pronounced dead at about 10 p.m. His wife was uninjured but the other driver was taken to the hospital. Started Cape Air Born in Fall River, Mr. Medeiros was raised in Portsmouth where his mother, Jeanne Brunetti, sister, niece and nephew still live. He was a veteran of two tours of duty in Vietnam where he was a helicopter pilot, and also worked in the Merchant Marine while in the Portsmouth area. He was later involved in several business enterprises, including Cape Air, the largest independent regional airline in the United States, where he was both an owner/operator and a pilot. He married his wife Nikki at Katama Airfield in Edgartown, Mass. — the airline's home field — on May 1st 1987. A friend said the couple moved to Tuscaloosa a few years ago to be close to their two daughters, both of whom live there. In Tuscaloosa they owned and operated the Bama Belle, a modern day replica of an early-1900s paddlewheel riverboat, which cruises Tuscaloosa's Black Warrior River. Booked months ahead for weddings and parties, the vessel had recently taken a Kiddie Christmas with Santa excursion and was scheduled to participate in the Christmas Afloat parade on Saturday, the day after the tragedy. "My dad was the perfect man," said Jessica Garrison, 31, his oldest daughter told the Tuscaloosa News. "He was really optimistic, really friendly and outgoing, warm, generous and he knew a little bit about everything." His talents included electronics, radios, and engineering, skills he used on all manner of projects including the remote-controlled, underwater camera he devised to film a alligator snapping turtle that had been living beneath the Bama Belle's dock. A memorial service was held for Mr. Medeiros at the Bama Belle. His ashes were buried at Portsmouth Cemetery alongside his father on Wednesday. By Bruce Burdett bburdett@eastbaynewspapers.com Copyright © 2003, The East Bay Newspapers