Herald staff
A milk deliveryman who died when his truck crashed near Maltby was identified Monday as Rick Eaton of Snohomish.
Eaton, 47, died of severe injuries to his head, trunk and limbs at the crash site in the 21000 block of Echo Lake Road Friday. He was ejected from his truck when it ran off the road and rolled, landing on top of him.
"All of his customers just thought the world about him and cared about him," said Alexis Koester, president of Kent-based Smith Brothers Dairy. "We loved him a lot. He’s going to be dearly missed by all of us."
Eaton began the Monroe route, which included parts of Snohomish, in 1999 when he was hired by his brother, Larry. He delivered milk, milk products and other items to about 400 homes and businesses.
Larry Eaton retired in January and his brother became an independent contractor on that route.
"He was just a run-of-the-mill nice guy," Larry Eaton said of his brother. "He liked to fish, and he liked to golf and to drive around and explore."
Rick Eaton moved to Snohomish in 1998 from Camas. He had worked at the Bemis Bag Co. in Vancouver, Wash., for about 20 years.
"You have to have a certain personality to be a milkman, and he did it very well. He was the kind of guy you made friends with real quickly because he was nice and polite," Larry Eaton said.
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