SAN ANTONIO – Life has changed for Elias Contreras' family.
A witness said the 33-year-old husband and father fell more than 100 feet Thursday while putting up a restaurant sign in Devine. He was brought to University Hospital and pronounced dead at 5:51 p.m.
His wife, Maria Contreras, said she found out hours after he fell.
"And I wanted to be there, but it was too late," she said.
By the time she arrived, her husband of more than 15 years and the father of their children was gone.
"They keep crying off and on," Contreras said of their children. "They say they love their daddy. They want him back."
Contreras said her husband, known as "OJ" to those close to him, was a family man -- a great man.
"He had a kind heart," she said. "If he could help you, he would."
She said her husband had built and installed signs for years and was good at it. As a glance at his Facebook page, filled with pictures of his signs, could show, Elias Contreras was proud of his work, too.
"He would talk to me about his work, what he would do, how he would fix it, when he would weld it," Contreras recalled. "He just loved his job."
He was, however, afraid of heights, she said.
When his sister married Elias Contreras, Julian Esqueda was happy. Contreras was a good guy, he said.
"He shows. He doesn't talk or whatever," Esqueda said of his brother-in-law. "He shows the affection. He shows the realness and everything."
Now, it's his family members who are showing their affection through their pain.
"It's going to be hard, but I have to be strong for my kids," Contreras said.
In 2013, more than 560 people died in Texas workplaces. Falls from elevation accounted for 28 percent of them.
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration is investigating Elias Contreras' fall. An OSHA official said the company Contreras worked for did not have a history of violations.