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Dad of Bartlett grad killed in crash wants other driver to give to scholarships

Patrick Coleman is convinced his son Michael has forgiven the man involved in the collision that killed him.

That was Michael's nature, Patrick Coleman said of the 19-year-old Bartlett High School graduate and College of DuPage student who was on his way to the Galena area for a day of snowboarding when the car he was driving was struck head-on.

"Me? I'm not there yet," said Patrick Coleman, who hasn't been able to adopt entirely the motto his son had tattooed on his leg: "Give and forgive."

Instead, he wants the other driver to donate to the charity that bears his son's name.

A Stephenson County judge last month found Arsalan Uddin, who was passing Coleman's car at the time of the accident, not guilty of reckless driving, said Stephenson County assistant state's attorney Joseph Lentz. The judge found Uddin guilty of speeding and driving without insurance, Lentz said.

Authorities say neither drugs nor alcohol played a role in the crash, which occurred just after 8 a.m. Dec. 19, 2011, as Coleman, of Hanover Park, and Justin Blazek, of Bartlett, drove west on Route 20 to the Chestnut Mountain Resort. Driving behind them was Uddin, a Glendale Heights resident commuting to his job in Iowa, Patrick Coleman said.

During the trial, Uddin said Michael Coleman was driving slowly, Coleman said. As he began passing Coleman, Uddin said he noticed an approaching semitrailer. Speeding up to complete the pass, Uddin said he hit some black ice and sideswiped a car driven by a Stockton woman. She lost control of her vehicle, which struck Michael's car head on.

"Michael was killed instantly. He didn't suffer," his father said.

The woman and Blazek recovered from their injuries, said Coleman, who lives in Spring Grove.

"I do not think when he left the house that morning, Uddin had any intention of killing anybody," Coleman said. "I don't wish him ill. I don't want him in jail."

Uddin faces a maximum sentence of 364 days in jail and a $2,500 fine when he is sentenced later this year. He and his attorney did not respond to requests for comment.

Coleman seeks a different kind of penalty. He wants Uddin to write a monthly check to one of several scholarships established in his son's name. Among them is Hanover Park's Michael H. Coleman Youth of the Year Award recognizing teens for their academic success, leadership and community service.

Patrick Coleman established scholarships in his son's name for the Hanover Park Sailfish, Michael's park district swim team, and the Hanover Park Hurricanes, Michael's youth football league team.

"(Uddin) could write the check for $2," said Coleman, his voice catching, "I just want him to write my son's name. ... I don't want him to forget."

Michael wasn't perfect, "but at 19, he was the man I always wanted to be," his father said.

Personable and easygoing, he moved seamlessly between various high school cliques, said his father who learned from a Bartlett High School teacher his son had been working with non-English-speaking students during lunch and before school.

"He was like a brother to me," said Blazek, 23, who described his friend as a "hard worker who put everyone else before himself."

"I don't think there was a person in the world who couldn't like the kid," Blazek said.

A natural athlete, Coleman was a four-year member of the swim and football teams and lettered in both sports. He also ran track one year.

"He was much more talented than I," said Blazek, a football teammate. "He was a team-first kind of guy."

Both the Hanover Park and Bartlett park districts, where Michael worked as a lifeguard, memorialized him with plaques. In addition to his park district jobs, Coleman worked for Chicagoland Pool Management and volunteered at the Bartlett Community Center.

At the time of his death, he was preparing to transfer to George Williams College in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, to pursue a degree in parks and recreation with the goal of becoming an aquatic supervisor.

"He was a jack-of-all trades. But he loved snowboarding. That was his passion," Patrick Coleman said.

Michael's motto was "give and forgive." Patrick Coleman said he lived it.

He said he's trying to do the same, for Michael's sake.

Bartlett graduate killed in crash

Michael Coleman
Michael Coleman doing what he loved best. Courtesy of Patrick Coleman
Michael Coleman in 2010 on his last family vacation to Niagara Falls. Courtesy of Patrick Coleman
Bartlett High School class of 2012 planted a garden in memory of 2010 graduate Michael Coleman, who died in a car accident in 2011. Courtesy of Patrick Coleman
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