Glen Ellyn youth team to create memorial for girl who died of cancer

A new memorial in Glen Ellyn will allow Caitrin Gadomski's memory to live forever among the trees in Newton Park.

Members of the park district's Glen Ellyn Golden Eagles Youth Football program are spearheading a drive to install the memorial to honor the 6-year-old girl who died last year from cancer.

Caitrin attended Ben Franklin Elementary School and was "just full of life," said her mother, Becky.

Caitrin liked stuffed animals, jewelry and dolls and loved playing with her friends and going to school. Besides being a "daredevil" on her scooter, she participated in a Girl Scout Daisy troop, collected rocks and played at Newton Park. She and her older brother, Luke, were really close, their mother said.

"She was so many things. It's hard to put into words," Gadomski said.

Caitrin was diagnosed in January 2013 with cancer. She had to undergo surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation that year.

Even through her battle, Gadomski said her daughter was brave.

"She was sick for 10 months and through the whole thing, she just had a great positive attitude and was a fighter and was courageous beyond belief," she said.

Doctors declared her cancer-free twice, but finally, after the cancer came back again, they told the family they could not do anything for Caitrin. She died Nov. 17.

"At the end, we told her she was going to die and it was a horrible conversation, one no parent wants to have," Gadomski said. "And she was just amazing with her strength and her courageousness. She was at peace with it."

In honor of Caitrin, members of the Glen Ellyn Golden Eagles are funding the creation and installation of a memorial rock in Newton Park.

The rock will have a plaque, and the memorial will include Caitrin's name and a quote from William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream": "Though she be but little, she is fierce."

It also will include text about being noble and appreciating the opportunity to compete, Co-Chairman Kevin Cooke said.

He said the idea of creating the memorial started with a program coach who knew the Gadomskis.

Cooke said he envisions the rock to be used by players as a source of inspiration, similar to Howard's Rock at Clemson University, which football players rub for luck.

Cooke expects the memorial to be completed by the end of the month, and a public dedication will follow.

Gadomski said the family's friends and community have helped them through their entire journey.

She said when Caitrin was really sick near the end, her friends and even strangers set out candles in honor of her daughter. People have brought meals and sent cards. Each grade level at Ben Franklin gave gifts to Caitrin and Luke, and community members even helped out when the family's basement was flooded.

"We've really found out that we have some amazing friends and people we don't even know who have really stepped up and surrounded our family with love and kindness and generosity," Gadomski said.

The memorial will be another example of the community reaching out.

"It'll be nice to be able to go over there and see it and know other people are seeing it and remembering her," Gadomski said.