Fremd graduate dies near U of I

A 2006 Fremd High School graduate collapsed and died at a downstate Champaign eatery early Wednesday, apparently of natural causes.

Joshua Jared Hardy, 21, a University of Illinois finance major, competed in cross country and track and field at Fremd in Palatine, where he was a member of the National Honor Society.

Champaign police and Urbana paramedics were called after Hardy reportedly fell off his chair at a Champaign pizzeria at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.

"After preliminary autopsy, it appears to be natural causes at this point," Champaign County Coroner Duane Northrup said.

He said there was no indication trauma played any part in Hardy's death, but the results of toxicology tests will be awaited for the next couple weeks before a final determination is made.

Hardy belonged to the Rho Chapter of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity on the U of I campus.

Danny Slavicek, a classmate of Hardy's since fifth grade, said his friend remained in college the same driven but gregarious person he's always known.

Hardy never believed in cliques, but always brought friends from all different parts of his life together, Slavicek said. Though not Jewish, Hardy joined a predominantly Jewish fraternity because so many of his friends did.

Volunteerism was always a big part of Hardy's life as well, something he was given ample opportunity to do through the fraternity.

"I know he got a lot of fun out of it," Slavicek said.

Though the two friends chose different majors, volunteer opportunities were what most often brought them together at U of I.

And while the economy was in a downturn for much of the past year, with many financial institutions facing severe crises, Hardy never lost optimism that he would have the career in finance he dreamed of, Slavicek said.

"He was just really driven," he added. "It was an incredible shock."

According to Hardy's online resume, he'd been working from Champaign as a trust scholar for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange this spring and as a senior consultant for Champaign-based Illinois Business Consulting.

His resume also states that he belonged to a team that developed a business model to provide a solution for global climate change, an effort that placed first among nine at the C40 Summit in Seoul, South Korea, this past winter.

No funeral service information was yet available Wednesday.