BY JOHN PATTERSON
SALISBURY POST

A Spencer town employee died Saturday at a Winston-Salem hospital, less than two days after he was struck by a car while working at a sewer manhole on Salisbury Avenue.

Lester Jones, 55, and another water and sewer employee were checking a sewer line near the intersection of Salisbury Avenue and Seventh Street last Thursday afternoon when they were struck by a Buick driven by Frances Vail. Jones was taken to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem with multiple injuries, including a fractured skull. He died Saturday.

Jones, hired as a backhoe operator for the town about seven months ago, was the type of person everybody respected, according to Roger Church, the town’s water and sewer superintendent.

‘‘He had a super personality and he was super guy,’’ Church said. ‘‘He loved his job and he loved the guys he worked with. They kind of looked up to him as a father figure. They had great respect for him and he had great respect for them. He’s going to be missed a lot.’’

Church said Jones was originally hired as a backhoe operator, but that he was involved in ‘‘just about everything the water and sewer department did.’’ Church said Jones was his ‘‘crew leader.’’

‘‘He was involved in laying water and sewer lines and a lot of stuff,’’ Church said. ‘‘He did everything I ever asked him to do.’’

Jones lived with his wife, Linda, in Salisbury. ‘‘He had grown children, but most of them were in California,’’ Church said.

Jones was working with Tony Jacobs, 30, when they were struck around 2:15 p.m. Thursday. Jacobs was treated and released from Rowan Regional Medical Center.

Vail, 76, apparently never saw the workers. Police found no skid marks at the scene.

Jones and Jacobs were wearing orange work jackets when the accident occurred. Lane Kepley, Spencer police chief, also said there was a ‘‘men working’’ safety sign placed in the road to warn drivers, but that there was nothing directly around the manhole.

Kevin Howard, Spencer town manager, said the employees were abiding by safety rules dictated by the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

‘‘They were only going to be out in the road for a minute ... they were fixing to head down Seventh Street,’’ Howard said. ‘‘DOT has guidelines for a quick set up and a long-term set up ... they (employees) were using the quick set up, which requires a warning sign only.’’

Kepley said the investigation of the accident should be completed by this afternoon.