Notable deaths of 2010 in Lake County
Every life makes a difference, as does every death.
During 2010 many local heroes died, leaving their life behind as a legacy. The Daily Herald remembers some of the notable people who died in 2010 and their impact on the community.
From longtime career politicians and community members to young members of the military serving overseas, each of these people had a lasting influence on their families, friends and community around Lake County.
Russell ChristianFormer Avon Township supervisor Russell Christian died Aug. 8. He was 81.
Christian was remembered for his dedication to the Grayslake area and decades in public service as a volunteer and as an elected official.
He led Avon Township from 1989 until a stroke forced him to resign in 2006.
#8220;He was one of the good guys,#8221; said Greg Koeppen, manager of the Lake County Farm Bureau. #8220;He dedicated himself to giving back to the community.#8221;
He had also served on the Grayslake village board and on the Grayslake High School District 127 board, and was active in the Grayslake Lions Club, local Kiwanis organization and other civic groups.
Family described Christian, a U.S. Army veteran, as a loving, witty and courageous man.
Gordon Peter #8220;Butch#8221; Hein
Former Mundelein Park District board member and longtime community member Gordon Peter #8220;Butch#8221; Hein died Feb. 9 of a heart attack. He was 71.
Hein moved to Mundelein in 1966 and became an active member of the community. He raised his family in town, started a local business, BC Auto Parts, and served on the Mundelein Park District Board from 1977 to 1997.
Hein was also a member of the Mundelein-Libertyville Rotary Club, and coached junior football and Little League Baseball.
#8220;He adopted Mundelein as his hometown,#8221; said one of his sons, Libertyville police Lt. Chris Hein. #8220;He was very proud of the town.#8221;
Hein also cared for his wife, Juanita, who suffers from multiple sclerosis.
The way he took care of his family should be his legacy, his son said.
Richard #8220;Joe#8221; Jordan
Former Antioch Community High School football player, and Army Staff Sgt. Richard #8220;Joe#8221; Jordan, 29, died in the Iraq war on March 16.
While at Antioch High, Jordan was a student-athlete and a member of the school newspaper.
After graduating from Antioch in 1998, Jordan attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, but returned to Antioch High as a volunteer assistant coach for the Sequoits.
#8220;He was a really good kid,#8221; said Del Pechauer, Antioch's former head football coach. #8220;He always had a good personality. He was smiling all the time. He wanted to help out any way he could and we were more than happy to have him.#8221;
According to reports soon after Jordan's death, he died in a vehicle rollover.
Eddie WashingtonDevoted father of seven and well-known Lake County politician Eddie Washington, representative for the 60th Illinois House District, died June 4 of a heart attack.
Washington, 56, had been in the General Assembly since 2003 and represented the towns of Waukegan, North Chicago and Park City.
As the first black legislator from the county, Sen. Terry Link called Washington a #8220;trailblazer.#8221;
#8220;Eddie is already missed because of all the little things he did for our family,#8221; his widow Flor Luis-Washington said at the funeral.
Joseph W. Dimock IIJoseph W. Dimock II, 21, became the fourth graduate of Warren Township High School to die in Afghanistan or Iraq when he was killed July 10 in Salerno, Afghanistan. He died from injuries suffered from a noncombat-related accident.
According to the Department of Defense, Dimock was killed when an explosion occurred in an ammunition holding facility during an inventory.
Dimock, a 2007 graduate of Warren Township High School, was on his second deployment to Afghanistan, the Department of Defense said. He also had been deployed to Iraq.
Spc. Dimock was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Ga., after enlisting in August 2007.
#8220;Ranger Dimock represented everything right with America. He was an incredibly talented young man, who volunteered to serve his nation in a time of war and ultimately gave his life in support of her cause,#8221; said Lt. Col. Mike Foster, the 1st Ranger battalion commander.
Dimock was posthumously awarded with the Bronze Star Medal and Meritorious Service Medal.
Stu HoehneA man who dedicated his life to public service and spent more than 40 years as a firefighter, former Fox Lake Fire Chief Stu Hoehne, died Aug. 7 of cancer at age 79.
Hoehne began his career as a firefighter in 1957 at the Fox Lake Volunteer Fire Department.
He was named chief of the Fox Lake Fire Protection District in 1981, where he served until his retirement in 2001.
After retiring, Hoehne was named chief emeritus. Fox Lake Fire Station No. 4 on State Park Road was renamed the Stuart Hoehne Fire Station in 2001.
He served as a Fox Lake village trustee for two terms and was a former superintendent of the Fox Lake Public Works Department.
Hoehne also was a corporal in the U.S. Army, a charter member of the Fox Lake VFW, and a member of the Lake County Fire Chiefs Association and the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
At his funeral, the casket was hoisted on the fire truck and was escorted by about 100 cars and fire trucks from about 20 fire departments.
John Schulien Lake County Republican Party chairman and local politician John Schulien died Jan. 3 after a brief illness. He was 67.
Schulien also served on the Libertyville village board and the Lake County Board.
#8220;The term civic leader would be a good term for John. It wasn't about politics necessarily, it was about helping people,#8221; said Bob Churchill, a former state representative, whom Schulien succeeded as party leader.
As a Libertyville trustee from 1985 to 1992, Schulien was involved in the early effort to improve downtown.
He was a captain in the Army Dental Corps in Frankfurt, Germany, from 1969 to 1972 before running a private practice in North Chicago for almost 30 years.
Dominick Lentini Downtown Libertyville business owner and MainStreet proponent Dominick Lentini died Aug. 1 at Advocate Condell Medical Center at the age of 80.
Lentini and his wife, Mary, ran Some Other Nuts from the late 1970s until the store closed in 2005.
Downtown Libertyville was a shadow of its current state when the Lentinis arrived, and Dominick became heavily involved in the area as a constant and distinct voice for improvements.
He became a board member of MainStreet Libertyville and was a vocal member of the village's economic development commission.
A graduate of New York University, Lentini joined the U.S. Army and was an auditor stationed at Fort Sheridan. He later received an MBA from DePaul University and taught business in high school and junior college.
#8220;He got involved in things. He didn't just sit around and hope and wish something would happen,#8221; said M.J. Seiler, a local real estate broker.
Trudy KulefskyLongtime Libertyville High School staffer Trudy Kulefsky died Oct. 3 after a battle with leukemia. She was 64.
Kulefsky had been with District 128 since 1990 as a clerical aide and later as secretary to Assistant Principal Eric Maroscher. In 2008, she was named staff member of the year.
The Grayslake resident learned she had leukemia, a potentially deadly cancer of the blood or bone marrow, after participating in the school's annual wellness screening in March. She was hospitalized and started chemotherapy within weeks.
Co-workers rallied to her cause and hosted a bone marrow drive in early June.
Her diagnosis hit staffers hard because she ate right, exercised and appeared healthy. Kulefsky said she fought her illness with dignity and grace.
Gerald F. FitzgeraldAn influential innovator in the Illinois banking industry, the 85-year-old Barrington Hills resident introduced a multi-bank holding company, Suburban Bankcorp Inc.; the first primitive ATM in the mid-1960s; and the first interest-earning checking accounts. He was a NATO consultant in 1976 and a member of the Illinois Racing Board from 1968 to 1971. The most conservative of lenders, he believed a bank should lend no more than 50 percent of its assets and that homeowners ought to pay off their mortgages within 10 to 15 years. Gerald, who died Oct. 30, was the father of former U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald.