Harper trustee’s wife dies after she’s struck by vehicle at car wash

The wife of a Harper College trustee was struck and killed by a vehicle that veered off Rand Road Thursday afternoon as she was getting ready to depart a Lake Zurich car wash, authorities said.

Kathy Hoffman, of Lake Barrington, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Lake County Coroner’s office.

Hoffman, 56, was the wife of Harper College Trustee Dick Hoffman, a spokesman for the school confirmed. Family members declined to comment Friday.

Lake Zurich police Cmdr. Kevin Finlon said a 40-year-old man from downstate Chatsworth was driving a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo south on Rand when he left the road and went into the car wash’s driveway near Honey Lake Road, just past Paulus Park.

Finlon said Hoffman was on the drive and about to enter her just-cleaned 2010 Volkswagen GTI when the Jeep struck her and her vehicle about 2:50 p.m. Thursday.

After hitting Hoffman, police said, the Jeep crashed into a 2010 Acura sport-utility vehicle outside the car wash on Rand Road’s west side. Finlon said the Acura owner wasn’t injured.

Finlon said the Jeep driver was released Friday from Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital near Lake Barrington.

Toxicology results from the driver’s blood sample and an accident reconstruction investigation will determine if criminal charges or traffic citations will be issued in the case, Finlon said. He said the process likely will take at least three weeks.

“It’s still way too early to try to determine what happened,” Finlon said Friday.

Hoffman is survived by her husband and two sons. Dick Hoffman was first elected to Harper’s board in 2005 and is president and co-owner of Atomatic Mechanical Services Inc. in Arlington Heights.