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Notable Fox Valley deaths in 2016

Posted December 28, 2016 4:00 am

Susan Sarkauskas

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Michael Szot, a 2011 graduate of Geneva High School, tells students his story of driving drunk and high in 2014. His actions ended up killing two of his friends after the car he was driving them in ended up in a Naperville quarry. Daily Herald FILE photo/May, 2016

On May 12, Michael Szot told students at his old school, Geneva High, how one bad decision started him on a path that led to him causing the death of two friends.

A month later he, too, was dead.

Szot, 23, died June 16 of drug intoxication, from a combination of heroin, the opioid painkiller fentanyl and an antihistamine, while studying in a library at Waubonsee Community College.

He had pleaded guilty to aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol on July 19, 2014. Szot was drunk, high and tired that night and lost control of a car in downtown Naperville. While trying to make a turn, he veered in to Quarry Lake. He escaped, but his two passengers drowned.

He was sentenced in March to probation, and was allowed to leave the DuPage County jail to attend classes, to work, and to speak to teens as part of required community service.

Other notable deaths throughout 2016 included:

Ron Koeppl, in a new black-box theater that was dedicated to him at St. Charles East High School. Daily Herald file photo/2004

Ron Koeppl

Ron Koeppl spent more than 50 years as a teacher and theater director at St. Charles East High School. He directed more than 100 productions at the Norris theater located at the high school. He co-founded the now-defunct No Center Aisle theater company in St. Charles, despite never having any formal theater training. He died in March at age 76.

<h3 class="leadin">Tony Durante

Tony Durante of Schaumburg was a fixture at farmers markets in Elgin, Naperville, Northbrook and Skokie, sharpening knives just the way his grandfather taught him. He died April 13 at the age of 71 of cancer.

<h3 class="leadin">Stephen Woodcock

Marmion Academy senior Stephen Woodcock of Campton Hills died May 13 after falling off the running board of a moving SUV in the school's parking lot.

Longtime Judson University associate professor and catalog librarian Lynn Hammerlund, who was also president of the Algonquin Area Library District. She is pictured here with Judson University President Gene Crume. Courtesy of Judson University

Lynn Hammerlund

Lynn Hammerlund, 57, president of the Algonquin Area Public Library District board and a Judson University associate professor, died May 19 after a long battle with cancer.

Sigi Psimenos auctions off a unicycle in the Bicycles on Parade show in Elgin. Daily Herald file photo/August, 2010

Sigi Psimenos

Elgin activist Sigi Psimenos died at age 65 in May of advanced heart disease. She was known for her commitment to the arts, the environment and civic involvement, and she was active in numerous Elgin area groups and initiatives.

<h3 class="leadin">Jay Burger

Jay Burger, a 2010 Batavia High School graduate, died in June at age 24 after a 21-month battle with Ewing's Sarcoma - a rare bone cancer affecting children and adolescents.

Steve Berry, a Marengo fire captain and retired Elgin fire lieutenant, is shown talking with neighborhood children after fighting a fire. He lost his battle with cancer July 12 at age 63. Courtesy of the Carpentersville Fire Department

Steve Berry

Steve Berry, a Marengo fire captain and a retired Elgin fire lieutenant, lost his battle with bile duct cancer July 12 at age 63. The Huntley resident, who spent decades in the fire service, was diagnosed last year, after which more than than 500 people rallied to support him during a “Berry Strong” fundraiser.

Donna Dallesasse, a former longtime executive director of the Batavia Chamber of Commerce.

Donna Dallesasse

Donna Dallesasse, longtime executive director of the Batavia Chamber of Commerce, died Aug. 28 at age 75.

<h3 class="leadin">Kevin Griffin

Marmion Academy lacrosse coach Kevin Griffin died Aug. 29, after a five-year fight with cancer.

<h3 class="leadin">Edgar Crane Jr.

Former Geneva Mayor Edgar Crane Jr. died Oct. 19, at the age of 75. He had been mayor from 1981 to 1985. He then spent years traveling the world for his career, in stints for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; an international organization focused on social justice and civil society; and then as a civil-society consultant for the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Bob Popeck served the city of Batavia for 45 years with stints as a volunteer firefighter, patrol officer, police sergeant and ultimately chief of police. He was integral in bringing the windmills to the grounds surrounding the Batavia city hall. Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com, August 2005

Bob Popeck

Bob Popeck wore many hats for the city of Batavia. He started as a firefighter; became a police officer; rose to become police chief; then finished his 48-year career as an assistant to the mayor and city administrators. He also is the man behind the many, many windmills seen throughout town. He died Nov. 5 at age 80.

Elijah Vajgert, 16, of Maple Park, was killed in a crash.

Elijah Vajgert,

Arthur Stenger of Montgomery

Arthur Stenger

Kaneland High School mourned juniors Elijah Vajgert of Maple Park and Arthur Stenger of Montgomery. The 16-year-olds died in a crash Nov. 5.

<h3 class="leadin">Bishop Doran

The Most Rev. Thomas G. Doran, bishop emeritus of the Rockford Diocese, died in September. He was 80. Doran was bishop from 1994 to 2012.

Army Staff Sgt. Adam Thomas, a 2003 graduate of Larkin High School in Elgin.

Adam Thomas

Army Staff Sgt. Adam Thomas, a 2003 graduate of Larkin High School in Elgin, died in October while serving in Afghanistan. Thomas, 31, died Oct. 2 of injuries caused by an improvised explosive device in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. He was assigned as a medical sergeant to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne).

Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com, July 2011Beverly Holmes Hughes of North Aurora was the director of the Sugar Grove Public Library for more than 20 years.

Beverly Holmes Hughes

Former longtime Sugar Grove Librarian Beverly Holmes Hughes died of brain cancer Nov. 19. She was so beloved by the community, she was once named its Citizen of the Year even though she lived in North Aurora. Hughes oversaw the library during the town's population boom in the 1990s and early 2000s, including the construction of a new facility.

Civil-liberties activist Rob Sherman

Rob Sherman

Civil liberties activist Rob Sherman of Poplar Grove, formerly of Buffalo Grove, died Dec. 9 in a plane crash near Marengo.

Craig Sager accepts the Jimmy V award for perseverance at the ESPY Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Chris Pizzello/Invision/Associated Press/July 2016

Craig Sager

Craig Sager, formerly of Batavia.

Batavia native Craig Sager became a nationally known sports reporter during a 35-year career with CNN, TBS and TNT networks. He was especially known for his reports from the sidelines of NBA games, while wearing colorful, natty suits and ties. Sager died Dec. 15 at age 65 from leukemia.

<h3 class="leadin">Others

Seven motorcyclists died, in separate crashes throughout the county, in July and August.

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