Notable deaths in 2010 in DuPage County

The 23-year-old raft guide from Lisle died in mid-July after being ejected into the Arkansas River during an off-duty outing with four friends in Colorado. The Naperville North High School and University of Iowa graduate fell into the river near a dangerous underwater hazard at the Frog Rock rapid.

Jacqueline Avila

The Waubonsie Valley High School senior from Aurora was killed in a January car crash after her father lost control of the family's minivan near downstate Salem. They were on their way to visit the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville where Jacqueline #8212; who excelled in French and ran cross-country #8212; was considering attending school.

Gary Bradford, Drago Strahija

The two Florida men were killed in January when their twin-engine plane crashed into a Sugar Grove subdivision just minutes after leaving Aurora Municipal Airport. Bradford, 37, was the pilot and Strahija, 32, the lone passenger.

Melissa Bridgewater

The 45-year-old Bolingbrook woman was fatally shot execution style about 6:15 a.m. New Year's Day outside the Doubletree Hotel on Spring Road in Oak Brook. Her former husband, Jerry L. Hudson, was charged with first-degree murder.

Sharon Callais

She was a teacher in Lisle Unit District 202 and a nearly 20-year veteran of the Lisle Public Library Board with a dry wit and a desire not to draw attention to herself. She died at home in February at age 63.

James Carlson

The Glen Ellyn man was a 28-year veteran of Sara Lee who was instrumental in some key acquisitions, including Jimmy Dean. He held various senior level positions with the company, starting in 1973, and later became CEO of Sara Lee Foods. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor in April and died in late July at age 68.

J. Richard Chase

He served as the sixth president of Wheaton College, serving from 1982 to 1993, and helped oversee the beginning of the school's first doctoral program and the founding of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics. He was living at Windsor Park Manor in Carol Stream when he died in August at 79.

John Cockrell

His desire to make work a little easier led the former DuPage County Circuit Clerk to pursue many innovations in his office #8212; including making it the first in the state to be fully computerized. A Downers Grove resident, he retired in 1991 and was residing in Eagle River, Wis., when he died in June at age 87.

Mary Lou Cowlishaw

She spent two decades advocating for the Naperville area as a state representative #8212; along with stints as a journalist, a school board member and a college professor #8212; with a particular interest in education. Her successor in the state legislature, Joe Dunn, called her a #8220;pioneer as a woman in politics.#8221; She died in June at age 78 after a lengthy battle with cancer.

John Fry

The developer and his family built about 3,000 houses in Naperville and Plainfield, including the golf course community Tamarack Fairways. In 2001, Indian Prairie Unit District 204 named an elementary school in the Tall Grass subdivision after the Fry family. He was 87 when he died in May.

Jan Gabriel

The baritone-voiced speedway announcer gained fame for his #8220;Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!#8221; calls. The Lombard man died at age 69 in January #8212; on a Sunday.

Phyllis Giesche

The matriarch of Giesche Shoes in Glen Ellyn and Geneva was remembered by friends and family as a gracious, personable woman who loved meeting people and serving the community. Giesche Shoes opened in 1900 and has been run by three separate sides of the family ever since. Phyllis was 86 when she died in October.

Carmen Greco

A former reporter in the Daily Herald's DuPage County office, he was remembered by friends and colleagues as a mentor and straight shooter who could handle virtually any story. A resident of Evergreen Park, he was 52 when he died in December of complications following cancer surgery.

Mark Groesch

The 28-year-old Springfield man died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries after a Wheaton apartment fire in January. Groesch was studying for a master's degree in theology at Wheaton College after quitting optometry school and giving up a fledgling career as a stockbroker.

Jane Heckman

The founder of the DuPage YWCA was known for her compassion and uncanny ability to connect with others. Inspired by the work of Jane Addams, she was, at heart, a social worker. She was 89 when she died in late May.

Pascuala Hernandez-Gutierrez

The Lombard woman was one of two pedestrians standing on a Lombard sidewalk in April when a truck and SUV collided nearby. The SUV rolled onto the walkway and landed on top of Hernandez-Gutierrez and a man. Passers-by pulled the vehicle off both people but Hernandez-Gutierrez, 49, died within hours of the freak accident.

Gunnar Hotchkin

The former Naperville resident joined the military to provide for his family after being laid off as a building contractor. The last place he wanted to go, friends said, was Afghanistan, but that's where the Army private first class was serving in June when a roadside bomb blast flipped over the armored tank he was riding in. He was 31.

Antinette #8216;Toni' Keller

The 18-year-old Neuqua Valley High School graduate from Plainfield went for an October walk in a park near Northern Illinois University in DeKalb and never came back. Her charred remains were found and a DeKalb man is being held in her slaying.

Chelsea King

She was jogging in a San Diego park when she went missing in late February. Her body was found in early March in a shallow grave near a lake and a registered sex offender was charged with her murder. Chelsea, 17, had grown up in Naperville.

Les Kopecky

He joined the Addison Fire Department when it was an all-volunteer organization and when it became a full-time job he rose through the ranks to become a lieutenant. Also a member of the village's fire commission, he died in January at age 81.

Edward Kowal

A longtime DuPage County judge, he was elected chief judge of DuPage's 18th Judicial Circuit in 1993 and continued in that role until retiring in 1995. He died in January at age 85 after a lengthy fight with cancer and Parkinson's disease.

Lori Kramer, Jeffrey Kramer and Michael Kramer

The three family members were found shot to death in early March inside their upscale Darien home in what police described as a #8220;premeditated hit.#8221; A suspect is being held in connection with the killings.

Phil Lawler

The longtime Naperville Unit District 203 physical education teacher retired in 2004, but kept working with PE4life, a not-for-profit organization that develops fitness programs for children. Lawler, who taught at Madison Junior High, was inducted into the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1997 and was nationally known for his work in physical fitness. He was 60 when he died in April after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Katie Lunn

The Naperville dance teacher was driving home to Chicago after her students performed at Governors State University when her SUV was struck by an Amtrak train in University Park. Witnesses said the lights and gates at the crossing did not appear to be working. Lunn, 26, was a dance teacher and manager at the School of Performing Arts in Naperville.

Ralph Lutfy

The Lisle-area man died in early February after a fire in his Four Lakes apartment complex. Authorities said the 80-year-old man was smoking and wearing a highly flammable oxygen tube when the fire erupted.

Rena Mack

The longtime fixture in DuPage County government and civic life served as director of communications and leadership development for Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Naperville, where she was a longtime member. Before that she was a press secretary for the Illinois Toll Highway Authority and the DuPage County Board. She died in July at age 58 after battling brain cancer for two years.

James and Margaret Marnowski

The former Naperville couple died in September when a suspicious fire struck their Galena Territory home in September. Both had been longtime employees at Nalco Chemical Company.

Leonard Mlynarczyk

He loved to ride dirt bikes and ATVs and dreamed of getting a union job in the heating and air conditioning business. But in late February the 19-year-old Bloomingdale man was killed when an ATV he was riding up a hill in Yorkville flipped and landed on top of him.

Dan Mojziszek

The Lombard man was a college-educated musician who worked as a band director in Carol Stream District 93 before his life began spiraling out of control as a result of drugs and mental illness. In January, the 52-year-old died in a hail of bullets when he tried to run down police officers after a chase that began in Franklin Park.

Jean Moore

The journalist-turned-author lived and breathed Carol Stream history for 50 years. She and her husband, Ace, moved to the village in its infancy in 1959 and she chronicled the town's history #8212; along with that of Wheaton and DuPage County #8212; in several books. A founding member of the Suburban Press Club of Chicago and the Carol Stream Historical Society, she died in September at age 89.

Paul Morris

He spent more than 40 years as an educator, including 32 as a driving instructor, physical education instructor and baseball and football coach at Glenbard East High School. He always said the hardest part of being a coach was cutting a player. He was 85 when he died at home in early June.

Kevin Oratowski

The Marine lance corporal from Wheaton died in August after a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Afghanistan. Military officials said Oratowski, who graduated from Glenbard South High School, was conducting what they called mounted combat operations against enemy forces in Helmand Province when the bomb blast occurred. He was 23.

Adnaan Rahman and Nasir Shaik

The two 17-year-olds, one from Naperville and the other from Darien, were riding in a 2002 Porsche in mid-August when the car sideswiped a Dodge Caravan, spun out, slid into a ditch and then rolled over and caught fire. Rahman was going to be a senior at Waubonsie Valley High School.

Norman Rubin

The Naperville developer's projects are scattered throughout downtown, including Main Place and Washington Place. He also attracted national retailers such as The Gap and Talbots. He and his siblings contributed land and capital to develop Naperville's first Jewish synagogue. He died in May at age 80.

Rolando Salcedo Jr.

The 14-year-old from Glen Ellyn's Hadley Junior High School was riding with his father and 15-year-old brother in downstate Martinton Township when his dad apparently swerved to avoid an animal. Their car rolled over and Rolando was killed in the crash. Friends remembered him as a happy kid who loved the Beatles.

Ron Sass

The longtime Roselle trustee had just filed his nominating petitions to seek re-election in December when he succumbed after a long battle with cancer. Sass, 67, had served on the village board since 1987 and sat on several village committees.

Dominic Saverino

He was the son of Carol Stream Village President Frank Saverino, but more than that the St. Charles man was an active volunteer for countless good causes. #8220;He loved to create a fun atmosphere for everyone,#8221; his father said. Dominic, 36, died in September after a lengthy battle with several diseases, including eye cancer.

Jaskirat Singh

The 20-year-old Carol Stream man was planning to start classes at College of DuPage to help map out the rest of his life when he was killed in late July in a traffic accident in Glendale Heights. Police said he was trying to pass another vehicle when his car slammed into a parked truck.

Jerry Stevens

The retired Aurora fire chief was the kind of guy who worked hard and expected the same from his firefighters. Stevens, who served as chief from 1993 to 2002, was 67 when he died in late November.

Patty Szerlong

A direct woman with a dry wit, she served on the Lake Park High School District 108 board since 1996. She always attended the school's commencement ceremonies and this year was no different, even as she battled the final phases of pancreatic cancer. The Itasca woman died in June at age 64.

Dustin E. Thomas

The former Bloomingdale and Villa Park man's life always was guided by his faith, friends and family said. He was killed in early February when the snowmobile he was driving crashed into a tree in Boulder Junction, Wis. A worship leader at New Hope Community Church in Villa Park, the 26-year-old was newly married and recently had moved to Wisconsin.

Richard #8216;Dick' Tross

He was a six-term Lombard village trustee who served on the board for 20 years. He was a major supporter of the Taste of Lombard, a member of the Jaycees and an ecumenical minister. He was 66 when he died in late April.

Adrian O. Villegas, Jesse O. Aragon-Rodriguez

The two Fenton High School juniors were killed in January when the Honda convertible they were riding in crashed into a tree and split in half along York Road in Bensenville.

Emily Wagner

The teacher at Granger Middle School in Aurora was a voracious reader who took great pride in expanding the vocabulary of her students. She was, in fact, working on a version of a vocabulary test for her students when she died in late May after a short battle with a rare form of cancer. She was 30.

George Ware

His passion for trees took him around the world and made him a fixture at Lisle's Morton Arboretum where he spent decades and gained fame for developing disease-resistant elm trees. A Batavia resident, he was 86 when he died in June. Pierre Washington-Steel

The 17-year-old Glenbard West High School student, who was injured in a one-car crash in late January in Glen Ellyn, died in February at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove. A senior, the car in which he was riding left Swift Road and struck a utility pole.

Maggie Webber

Four-year-old Magdalene died a gruesome death, apparently at the hands of her mother, authorities said, in early November in Bloomingdale. Her mother, who confessed to killing the girl, said she did it to protect the youngster from Internet predators and the Internet sex trade.

Bethani Jane Werner

The 20-year-old Winfield native and junior at St. Ambrose University in Iowa was crossing the street after a late night out in October when she was struck and killed by a passing car. Authorities said it appeared both Bethani and the driver of the vehicle #8212; who was not charged #8212; had been drinking at various times during the evening. A graduate of St. Francis High School in Wheaton, she was remembered as a funny young woman who enjoyed making friends.

Marie Wilkinson

She moved to Aurora in 1922 from New Orleans and spent much of her life advocating tirelessly for children and civil rights. She helped create dozens of social service agencies in the city, including the Quad County Urban League, Feed the Hungry, the Breaking Free drug program and the Aurora Fair Housing Board. When she died at age 101 in August, former youth services Director Fred Rogers said he couldn't imagine what Aurora would be like today with her guidance. Karen Woronicz

The regional director of the American Cancer Society DuPage Area Office lost her long-running battle against the disease in April. The two-time breast cancer survivor from Inverness started at the office as a volunteer and quickly moved up the ranks. She was 52.

Kyle Wright

The 22-year-old soldier from Romeoville died in January in Afghanistan when his vehicle rolled over a 250-pound roadside bomb. A 2006 graduate of Romeoville High School, he quickly became fluent in Arabic and served with the Stryker Brigade Combat Team. #8220;I don't know what people's stereotypes are of a quote/unquote grunt soldier, but he was the toughest, smartest, bravest man, and I don't just say that because he's my son,#8221; his father, Richard, said. #8220;He was the very, very best.#8221;

Kyle Zuleg

The 16-year-old student at Naperville's Neuqua Valley High School was killed in mid-October when a 1-ton branch fell about 70 feet from a tree and struck him while he and friends were playing flashlight tag in Will County's Messenger Woods Nature Preserve. A volleyball player in school, friends remembered him for his infectious smile and upbeat attitude.