Co-workers, friends and family are in mourning for Jim Tilhoff, a Purolator Inc. employee who was killed in a workplace accident at a Toronto facility on March 7.

Tilhoff, 58, was trying to clear a jam in a conveyor belt that day when he was crushed inside the machine and succumbed to his injuries, according to a GoFundMe web page that was set up on March 9 to raise financial support for his family and help cover the funeral and memorial expenses.

The Facebook page for Puropeople, a private website for the company’s employees and their families, stated that Tilhoff had been “caught up” in the conveyor belt, while calling the day of the fatality “a sad day.”

Media reports have stated that the Toronto Police Service was notified of the accident before 6 a.m. that day and that Tilhoff was unconscious when he was transported to the hospital, where he later died. The federal Ministry of Employment, Workplace Development and Labour is now investigating the incident.

“We are extremely saddened by this tragic loss of a member of the Purolator family,” the employer said in a media statement. “As Labour Canada’s investigation is still ongoing, we are not able to comment any further at this time.”

“Jimmy was well loved by his friends and family and will be greatly missed,” the GoFundMe page stated, calling Tilhoff “a great uncle, brother and son and made a lasting impression on everyone he met.”

“He would always lend an ear if you had a problem,” neighbour James Tensee posted in a comment on the page on March 15. “I’m so sad to hear of his sudden and untimely passing… you will be missed.” Tensee added that he had lived upstairs from Tilhoff for 13 years.

Tilhoff’s funeral was held on the morning of March 17 at the Glendale Funeral Home in Etobicoke, the Toronto borough where he had worked.

As of March 17, the GoFundMe page had raised more than $1,500.