Steve Hussey dies in farming accident

Remembered as a proud father, an avid model railroad collector and loyal friend

Stephen Hussey, 50, was killed Monday afternoon in a farming accident at his family's Eastern Slope Farm on West Side Road. He is being remembered as a proud father, an avid model railroad collector, a loyal friend and a man who had a passion for farming.Hussey sustained fatal injuries when the bulldozer he was operating rolled over causing him to be thrown from the vehicle, according to Conway police. Hussey was pronounced dead at the scene by the medical examiner's office. Hussey was remembered Tuesday by men who've known him since he was a child. He was "a good natured, hard working man" who loved his work, said Chet Lucy. "It's a real tragedy," Paul Allard said. "I've known Steve since he was a small boy and watched him grow up over the years just up the street from me. He loved farming and I can tell you he worked hard, boy, he was a hard worker. This is such a shame a terrible accident. My thoughts go out to his family."Sut Marshall, of Conway, called Hussey a good friend. "I just think Steve was as big hearted as they come," he said. "He wasn't worried about Steve and always put others before himself... I know how happy he was to have Justin (his son) and his fianc Julie home. Stephen had been helping them get going with a dairy farm. They were on the move to bring dairy farming back to the West Side. I know it was his dream and his grandfather's (Dr. Eugene Hussey) dream to have Justin come back and follow in their footsteps with the farm and that's going to happen."Hussey was kind to everyone according to Marshall. "He really was good to everyone," he said. "Night or day, he'd be there to help people... He worked his heart out. He was the type of if you broke down in the middle of the night and called Steve would be there."Marshall said his friend had a passion for model railroading, but was always a part of the horse team with his father and brother, Brian. "Stephen was the behind the scenes guy," Marshall said. "Brian and Doc did all of the driving but it was Stephen who made sure the horses were washed, the harnesses were set and everything was ready to go. He did just so much behind the scenes."Marshall had to smile Tuesday when he recalled an adventure he and Hussey went on in the late 1970sa trip to the prestigious horse showThe Royal in Toronto, Canada. "Steve, Doc and I went up there and Doc was the only one of us who had a ticket," he said. "We got there and the place was sold out. We'd figured we were with Doc we'd have no trouble getting in, but there were no tickets to be had. We'd just driven for 12 hours and couldn't get in, but we weren't going to give up that easily."Well, Doc went in and Stephen and I just walked around the grounds trying to find a way in," Marshall said, laughing. "We ended up next to the hitch wagons and just pulled our baseball caps down over our eyes so no one would see us. We went up to each side of the harness and ended up going right out in the ring in front of thousands of people. The announcer called for all handlers to go to the corner. We did that, but we were gate crashers and knew when we went out we'd be found out... We noticed a group of box seats close to the ring and there were these people, probably between the ages of 18 and 30, who were there riding for their countries. Whenever it was someone's turn to compete there were empty seats. We spied the box seats and felt it might be a good place to go so when the hitching wagons left the ring we went into the seats and the people were very friendly to us and had us continually switching seats, but it worked out. I think we ended up having better seats than Doc. We weren't going to be denied after a 12-hour drive. Neither one of us had a clue what we were doing with the horses, but we were there and wanted to make the most of it."