THREE RIVERS, MI -- Mendon Community Schools Superintendent Roger Rathburn fell from a ladder and died while trying to trim trees Tuesday at a nearby golf course, police say.

Rathburn, 55, was on a ladder on Dec. 26, at the Sauganash Golf Course at 61270 Lutz Road, about two miles south of Three Rivers, when the incident occurred, they say.

"Based on the investigation there, he was trimming trees along the golf course," said Trooper John Hoffmeister. "He was on a ladder approximately 20 feet in the air cutting a larger tree limb down."

The trooper said Rathburn was on a metal, extendable ladder, using a chain saw. He was above the large tree limb that he was cutting.

"At some point in the process, the limb that he was cutting struck the ladder," Hoffmeister said. "As it was making its fall, it struck the ladder causing Mr. Rathburn to fall, with him striking the (golf) cart path."

He said the mishap occurred sometime before police received a call for help at 6:15 p.m.

Hoffmeister said Rathburn was alone at the time of the incident. He was apparently found by a family member, who went to check on Rathburn after he failed to return text messages and phone calls.

The officer said Rathurn used a personal vehicle, a large sport utility vehicle, to access a part of the golf course that was well removed from anyplace a passerby may have seen him.

"There was snow out there but you can see, unfortunately, he landed on a cart path," Hoffmeister said. If he had landed elsewhere, the trooper said, " I don't know if the outcome would have been different."

Hoffmeister said he does not know why the man was trimming trees in snowy weather but believes Rathburn may have been one of several owners of the golf course. Twenty area business people bought stakes in the Sauganash Country Club in 2016 in order to keep local control of it, according to its website.

Efforts to contact a spokesman for the golf course were not success Wednesday.

The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into the circumstances that led to the death. In an email, spokeswoman Jeannie Vogel said that investigation is likely to take several weeks or months.

On its website, the Mendon school district called Rathburn " a champion for kids, a visionary leader and a generous administrator" who transformed the district's school culture "with his enthusiasm and his unparalleled commitment. It offered thoughts and prayers for his family.

Grief counseling was being made available for students and school staff from 9 a.m. to noon on Thursday, Dec. 28, in the high school office.

Rathburn has been superintendent of Mendon Community Schools since starting as interim supervisor for the 2015-16 school year. He was superintendent of Three Rivers Community Schools from 2001 to June 2013.

He is the older brother of Rusty Rathburn, a trustee with the Portage Public Schools. Rusty was age 3 and Roger was 5 when their family relocated to Portage in 1968.

Roger is a graduate of Hackett Catholic Central High School. He has a business degree from Western Michigan University and obtained a teaching certificate to start his career in education as a high school business teacher in South Bend, Ind.

Funeral Arrangements were pending at the Betzler Life Story Funeral Homes, of Kalamazoo.