Kaneland High coming to grips with tragedy
Mike Nguyen usually rode to class at Kaneland High School with his friends Jeffrey Malewig and Blake Denton. The three seniors all lived in Sugar Grove.
But Nguyen didn't go to school Thursday. He began receiving phone calls and text messages from friends about 2 p.m. that day and learned the awful news. Malewig and Denton never made it to school. They were killed Thursday morning in a one-vehicle crash on Harter Road in Kaneville Township on their way to class.
"I was overwhelmed, shocked," Nguyen said. "I thought nothing like that would ever happen. I was devastated."
"There's no word for what we're going through," said Jeff's mother, Laura, when reached by telephone Friday. "There are so many words to describe him," she said of her son. "Basically a comic. He made everybody laugh. He was a debater, he had strong points. Everyone told him he'd be president. He valued his friends and family. He was a good boy."
Malewig said her son was compassionate and committed to his faith.
The service will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 16, at Holy Cross Church in Batavia. The family is parishioners at the church.
On Thursday, Nguyen joined his classmate Ben Brown and went to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove where Denton was taken after the crash. But his friend was already gone.
Nguyen and others spent Friday remembering the two young men they liked and admired. A group met at a restaurant to talk, visited Denton's and Malewig's parents to offer support and gathered in the cold afternoon at the scene of the crash. Stuffed animals, a cross, cards and letters and a balloon have been placed at the site.
"Blake was one of my closest friends," Nguyen said. "I met him when I was in eighth grade. When I got to high school he invited me to have lunch with him and introduced me to a lot of other people. I owe everything to him.
"Blake was energetic, he was always there to hang out with you," Nguyen recalled. "Blake and Jeff were amazing people to be around. We miss them very much."
Jake Haas, also a senior who lives in Sugar Grove, often hung out with Denton and Nguyen.
"Blake was an all around great guy," he said.
As students returned to Kaneland High School Friday with heavy hearts after Thursday's tragedy, the school made grief counselors available for students and staff.
"I walked the building this morning," Kaneland Unit District 302 Superintendent Charles McCormick said Friday. "While there are a lot of upset people there, I could hear talk of support. We have a lot of very capable people there who really know what they're doing.
"We are concerned about their families and friends," McCormick added. "We're doing what we can here."
McCormick said the district had received many offers of help and that a grief counselor from Conley Outreach was also at the school.
McCormick said that students were leaving notes and other memorials at the boys' lockers.
A wrestling meet scheduled at the school for Friday was canceled and rescheduled for Friday, Jan. 9, but the Madrigal dinner will go on this weekend as planned.
Friends also gathered at a memorial service Thursday at the Village Bible Church in Sugar Grove.
According to the high school registrar's office, Malewig earned a 32 on his ACT tests and was preparing to go to college where he hoped to play baseball. He was the second baseman for the Kaneland Knights. Denton was preparing to go to college where he planned to study accounting.
An autopsy was scheduled for Friday.
Results of the accident investigation will not be known for some time, said Kane County Sheriff's Lt. Pat Gengler.
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=257463">Kaneland mourns deaths of two well-liked seniors <span class="date">[12/11/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>