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OSF employee Wieken dies after climbing accident ASHLAND � A 36-year-old Oregon Shakespeare Festival employee has died from head injuries suffered in a mountain climbing accident on Mount Shasta last month. David Wieken was removed from life-support systems Sunday at Mercy Medical Center in Redding, Calif., a hospital nursing supervisor confirmed. A stage manager for the Ashland theater company, Wieken was an organ donor, said Paul Nicholson, OSF executive director. "There�s a piece of Wieken that will continue to live on with us as a company and for those of us who believe in organ donation, he will live on in that way as well," Nicholson said. Wieken was injured just before dawn Sept. 23 when he slipped on ice and fell more than 1,000 feet while climbing the Hotlum/Bolum route on Mount Shasta�s northeast side. He was taken by helicopters to the Redding medical center. A seven-season veteran at the festival, Wieken was stage manager for "Forces of Nature" and "Henry V." His wife is festival actor Christine Williams. Wieken � who insisted on being called by his last name � will be remembered as a talented professional, Nicholson said. "He was very well respected. He had a broad understanding of how the company operated. He had very high standards," Nicholson said. "It�s certainly a very sad time for the company." An understudy will fulfill Wieken�s duties through for the rest of the season, which ends this month. Nicholson said his memory will fuel ensuing performances. "The thing that he would want in this situation would be for everyone to go on and blow the audiences away," Nicholson said. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.