A U.S. Navy chief died Oct. 16 after he was struck by a forklift on a pier at Naval Station Norfolk, officials confirmed this week.
Chief Culinary Specialist Adam M. Foti, 36, a married father of two, was struck at about 11 a.m. on Pier 14, according to officials.
Assigned to the guided-missile destroyer Jason Dunham, Foti was transported to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and pronounced dead at 11:34 a.m.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating the incident and officials declined to provide more details this week regarding what happened.
A New Jersey native, Foti served more than 17 years in the Navy.
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Foti was a devoted family man who loved camping, golfing and grilling, according to his obituary.
Weekends were often spent at the ball field with his kids or watching his beloved New York Giants.
“There wasn’t a person that met him that didn’t instantly love him,” his wife, Brandi Woods-Foti, told Navy Times in a social media message. “He just had that way about him.”
Woods-Foti said she was heartened by the outpouring of love and support she had received from Foti’s brothers and sisters in the Chief’s Mess.
The Jason Dunham has renamed the Chief’s Mess “Adam’s Grill,” she said, and his shipmates held a golf tournament in his honor on Friday.
His funeral was held Thursday.
“He was a wonderful man, taken way too soon from us all,” she said.
Geoff is the managing editor of Military Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.
