Mourners will gather at crash site Sunday to remember Fremd grad
Liza Whitacre loved riding her new 10-speed Surly over the Chicago streets, whether commuting to work in an environmentally-friendly manner or leisurely cruising the city she adored.
"She just was very ambitious about it," said Whitacre's younger sister, Lauren Whitacre, 18. "Each day she kind of pushed to see how far she could ride. Her next goal was to ride it from Chicago all the way to Palatine."
But the 20-year-old Loyola University student's aspirations and life were cut short Wednesday.
Whitacre, a Palatine native and Fremd High School graduate, was killed in a accident as she pedalled through Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. Authorities said she fell from her bike while trying to pass between a truck and a CTA bus, and was run over by the truck near Damen and Wellington avenues.
As of Friday afternoon, police had not issued any citations in the accident.
In Whitacre's memory, at 7 p.m. Sunday friends and family members will ride the few blocks between Metropolis Coffee Co., 1039 W. Granville Ave., where Whitacre worked, to the place where she died.
"We are just trying to celebrate her as much as we can," Lauren said.
Lauren said her sister, a 2007 graduate of Fremd High School, was part of a "coffee drinking, bike riding community in Chicago," who participated in Critical Mass, a monthly biking event where thousands of cyclists take over the downtown Chicago streets.
Lauren followed her sister first to Quest Academy in Palatine for junior high, then to Fremd, and finally to Chicago, where she attends Columbia College.
"We were basically inseparable when we were younger," Lauren said. "I never wanted to do anything without her and very much followed her around."
"I'm happy that I'm going to be living there and being in the city that she loved because I love it just as much she did."
At Fremd, Liza Whitacre was an advanced placement honors student and played for the volleyball and lacrosse teams.
Fremd lacrosse coach Francesco D'Avola remembered Whitacre's leadership qualities and said she was mature beyond her years.
D'Avola has been busy the last couple days fielding calls from Whitacre's former teammates, now scattered across the country. Many of the young women are returning home to mourn their friend.
"It's a tragedy for them and they're not used to it," D'Avola said.
D'Avola kept a letter that Whitacre wrote anonymously to her lacrosse teammates during a rough patch at the end of her senior season. The letter urges her teammates to dig deeper with only three games left - to ignore the drama sometimes associated with female sports teams and come together.
D'Avola said Whitacre urged her team to "sprint their booties to the ball" and make the best of their remaining games. He recalled passing the note to the team while on their way to a game. The note now has a home inside a team scrapbook.
"She was an amazing girl," D'Avola said.
Having grown up in a Christian household, Whitacre also led and mentored a small group of junior high kids at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington.
She wanted to be a missionary at first, but most recently Whitacre was studying French and international business at Loyola University in Chicago. Her goal was to open a coffee shop in France.
Survivors include parents, David and Cecilia Whitacre of Palatine; sister Lauren Whitacre and brother Max Whitacre.
A funeral service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, at Willow Creek Community Church Chapel, 67 E. Algonquin Road, South Barrington. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Compassion International.
• Daily Herald Staff Writer Ashok Selvam contributed to this report.