Youth sports community rallying for Gurnee boys

Segments of the Gurnee-area youth sports community are rallying around two boys whose father died of a heart attack in front of them last November.

Teenagers and parents connected to the Warren Area Lacrosse Association, Warren Youth Football and Gurnee Park District basketball have organized a seven-hour bash Saturday night to honor Mark Mannebach and support the boys.

Four bands, raffles and a silent auction will be part of the fun from 5 p.m. to midnight at Jesse Oaks, 18490 W. Old Gages Lake Road in unincorporated Gages Lake. Tickets will cost $10 for adults and $6 for students.

Mannebach, 48, of Zion died of the heart attack Nov. 14 while in the living room of his ex-wife's Gurnee home, where his sons live. Ryan, 13, and Connor, 11, who attend Woodland Middle School in Gurnee, were with their father when he died, said their mother, Julie Pettinato.

Pettinato said she and her ex-husband were partners in raising their sons. She said he was with the boys for open-gym basketball in Gurnee when he didn't feel well and returned to the house the day he died.

“I would say he was 100 percent supportive of everything they wanted to do or try,” Pettinato, 40, said of Mannebach's relationship with the boys. “He gave a lot of quality time and a lot of quantity time.”

Mannebach and his former wife owned Ted's Restaurant in Waukegan, which he sold in 2004. The eatery was known as Ted's Log Cabin when Mannebach and Pettinato ran it.

Warren Youth Football coach Bruce Montgomery, who heads the lightweight Big Ten squad, and team mom Lara Frystak have led the effort for the gathering.

Frystak said Wednesday she can relate to the boys because her father suddenly died at home when she was 16. She said Mannebach is remembered for helping at Gurnee-area youth sports fundraisers and showing pride in Connor and Ryan.

“The kids are so heavily involved and part of the community,” Frystak added.

Ryan, Connor and two other boys will be part of the evening's entertainment with their band, Convolution. In all, three teen bands and one adult band will play at the event.

Pettinato said Convolution, which worked the Grayslake Farmers Market one day last May, will play a song Ryan and Connor wrote in their dad's memory. She said Mannebach, known for always having a joke, and his sons were into music and even cowrote a song.

“Come by for our dad and hear some great music,” Ryan said.

In addition to the music, there will be raffle prizes and a silent auction with items such as a Jay Cutler-autographed Bears jersey contributed by a team employee.

Organizers said they'll donate the evening's proceeds to provide assistance for Connor's and Ryan's future education and sports expenses.