Bloomingdale man killed in ATV accident was a 'wonderful friend'

Friends and family knew Leonard Mlynarczyk as a teen who loved to ride ATVs and dirt bikes.

They knew him as a College of DuPage student who wanted to work in heating and air conditioning.

But they knew him best for being a wonderful friend.

"If you knew him, you would like him right away because he was such a positive person," his father, Marion Mlynarczyk, said Monday. "Everybody liked him (because) he was always willing to help and always giving good advice."

The 19-year-old Bloomingdale resident was killed Saturday when the ATV he was riding flipped and landed on top of him as he headed up a hill in Yorkville, police said.

Mlynarczyk was riding at 10:02 p.m. Saturday in Bristol Station Park near Faxon and Allendale roads when the ATV rolled over, Sgt. Larry Hilt said.

Hilt said Mlynarczyk was transported to Copley Medical Center in Aurora where he was pronounced dead later that evening.

Hilt said the accident remains under investigation. Police still are awaiting potential witness accounts to determine exactly what happened.

Marion Mlynarczyk said his son had experience riding both three- and four-wheel ATVs, as well as dirt bikes, which was his primary hobby. Even the main photo on his Facebook profile includes a photo of Mlynarczyk atop an ATV.

"He just loves it, it's like he was born with that (passion)," his father said.

Now his parents, Marion and Maria, are grieving the loss of their youngest son, who grew up in Bloomingdale with four siblings and graduated last spring from Glenbard North High School. This year he was studying to become a heating, ventilation and air conditioning specialist, a profession some of his older friends also pursued.

"He was just looking forward to graduating and working as a union guy," said Marion Mlynarczyk. "We are going to miss him tremendously and I don't know we are going to fill the gap he left. I look at his pictures and he is so full of life and hope, and now he's gone."

Services for Leonard Mlynarczyk will begin at 8 a.m. Thursday at Salerno's Rosedale Chapels, 450 W. Lake St., Roselle, proceeding to a Mass at 9 a.m. at St. Isidore Church, Army Trail Road and Gary Avenue, Bloomingdale. Interment will be in St. Michael the Archangel Cemetery. Visitation will be from 3 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.

For details, call (630) 889-1700.