SOUTH ROYALTON — A trash hauler died Wednesday after he became trapped underneath a dumpster outside a restaurant, according to police.

Kenny Greenslit, 57, of Granville, Vt., was working with a 30-foot trash receptacle in the parking lot of the Worthy Burger restaurant on 56 Rainbow Street around 1 p.m., Royalton police wrote in a news release.

Officers and firefighters went to the scene after a person in the area called police.

Greenslit’s wife, Cindy Greenslit, said he was emptying the dumpster when it fell on top of him.

Royalton police, who are investigating Greenslit’s death, said he was working alone and that they believe it was accidental.

For the family of the 57-year-old father and grandfather, the news is devastating.

“He was just a good guy. He was one of the good ones,” Cindy Greenslit said in an interview Thursday. The two were married for 33 years, and Cindy Greenslit laughed when remembering how she met her husband at a friend’s house in 1986.

She was drawn to his handsome eyes and his witty personality. Two months later, they were married.

“From that day on, we were never separated,” she said.

Greenslit, who was born and raised in Vermont, loved hunting, the outdoors and spending time with his family and his three dogs, Misty Greenslit, one of his two daughters, said.

“My dad was a gentle soul with a kind heart,” she wrote in a message Thursday afternoon.

Cindy Greenslit echoed her stepdaughter’s words, adding that her husband, himself a cancer survivor, had spent a year caring for his father-in-law when he was ill.

“There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for someone.”

South Royalton firefighters, Royalton police and the South Royalton Rescue Squad attempted to free Greenslit, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Greenslit was an employee with A.B.L.E. Waste, which is based in Plymouth, Vt., and owns the dumpsters outside the restaurant, according to police.

When reached by phone Thursday, an A.B.L.E. spokesperson declined to comment on the incident.

Vermont’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is gathering information about the incident and considering whether to begin an investigation, according to Kyle Thweatt, a spokesperson for VOSHA.

Anna Merriman can be reached  at amerriman@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.