Lake County's notable deaths of 2009

Each left their mark. Each left a legacy, large or small.

Soldiers from wars past and present. A schoolteacher, police chief, a legend of the late-night airwaves. A forward thinking environmentalist, an advocate for families, an intellectual with a passion for history and a woman who made a career helping college-bound high school students.

Lake County lost several people who will be remembered for their valuable contributions.

We pause to take another look.

Patricia Finnerty

Libertyville High School College/career counselor Patricia Finnerty, 46, of Arlington Heights, died June 2 in a house fire. Investigators determined, Patricia Finnerty's husband, Kevin Finnerty started a fire in his bedroom that also killed him and their 11-year-old son, Garrett. The couple's two other children, Bridgit, 12, and Pierce, 6, escaped with no major injuries.

Finnerty grew up as the middle child of three girls in Arlington Heights' Surrey Ridge West neighborhood.

After earning a degree from Concordia University in Chicago, Finnerty spent 15 years as a guidance counselor at Niles North High School in Skokie. She took a new job last fall as a college counselor at Libertyville High School.

"I was a mentor to her in some ways, but she came here with a wealth of experience," said Ole Stevens, Libertyville High's director of student services, who hired Finnerty. "She was extremely dedicated to her craft. She had a positive impact on so many of the students here."

Stevens said Finnerty had keen insight into the needs of students and their parents.

"She was phenomenal. Words can't say enough about the kind of person she was," he said. "Trish really understood kids and families, and was so great at helping them make decisions about life after high school."

Finnerty combined a sense of humor, intense energy and professionalism in her life and career. Finnerty's secretary, Marilyn McBride, said her boss was one of a kind.

"Trish was vibrant. She was always in motion, and more fun to work with than you can imagine," McBride said "She was such a force and really funny, too. There wasn't a day when we wouldn't all be laughing at some point, including the students."

Nancy Dick, who was Finnerty's assistant, said Finnerty loved her kids deeply.

"We knew them each by name and what they were up to," Dick said. "Trish would talk about them all the time."

Dean Larson

A former teacher, school administrator, village trustee and local historian, Dean Larson was known for his storytelling as much as his vast knowledge of Libertyville lore.

Larson, 78, died March 12 at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville. He had been in failing health.

A U.S. Army veteran, he came to the village in 1958 after leaving the military to teach government and history at Libertyville High School, back when that facility occupied the Brainerd Building on Route 176.

He also taught chemistry, physics, economics and other courses and eventually joined the District 128 administration. He retired as assistant superintendent for business in 1992.

After leaving Libertyville High, Larson served as an interim administrative assistant to the superintendent of the Waukegan School District.

Larson joined the Libertyville village board in 1993 and remained on the panel until early 2008, when he resigned for health reasons.

He was named the village's first historian after leaving the board. The title was fitting, as he had been a longtime officer of the Libertyville-Mundelein Historical Society and was well versed on the region's past.

Larson also received a lifetime achievement award from the Illinois State Historical Society. Additionally, a triangle of green space at Rockland Road and Crane Boulevard in Libertyville was dedicated in his honor.

Former District 128 superintendent Don Gossett, who worked with Larson for years, considered him a good friend long after they both left their posts.

"He was dedicated to his work and he was dedicated to the community," Gossett said. "He absolutely loved Libertyville High School and the community of Libertyville more than anyone will ever know."

Erika K. Meyer

Lake Zurich schoolteacher Erika K. Meyer, 29, of Arlington Heights, died Nov. 1 of uterine cancer. She was a first grade at Sarah Adams Elementary School for eight years.

Born in Overland Park, Kan., Meyer moved to Buffalo Grove as a baby. She graduated from Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire in 1998.

During her time at Stevenson, Meyer - then known as Erika White - was a member of the student council and helped lead the freshman mentor program, school spokesman Jim Conrey said.

She also was in the Future Educators of America club, was a member of the girls golf team and was a pool leader who helped teach students to swim. After Stevenson, Meyer attended Indiana University and graduated in 2002.

Sarah Adams Principal Claudia Mall said Meyer was a consummate professional.

"I think first grade was her calling and her passion," Mall said. "She was a fabulous teacher."

Meyer began blogging about her life, her cancer and the treatments in June after her diagnosis. The blog was a way for Erika to inform people about her progress fighting the disease, her husband Andrew Meyer said.

Ed Schwartz

Longtime radio personality and former syndicated columnist Eddie Schwartz, 62, died Feb. 4 from kidney and heart problems. A native of Chicago, he died at a nursing home in Waukegan.

Schwartz attended Columbia College in Chicago before getting on the air at WLS-AM in 1973.

During his programs, Schwartz led discussions on local issues and invited listeners to call in with their problems. He frequently telephoned elected officials in the middle of the night to inform them of listener complaints, and held open forums on racism, poverty and health care.

Schwartz moved his program to WGN in 1982, and his show reached 380,000 listeners a week before he departed for WLUP in 1992.

He walked away from WLUP in 1995 and became a syndicated columnist for Lerner Newspapers.

Schwartz was diagnosed with renal failure in 2005 and had been fighting kidney- and heart-related issues ever since.

Ed Sindles

Former Round Lake Beach police chief and deputy chief with the Lake County Sheriff's Office, Ed Sindles, 73, died Aug. 23 of heart disease.

Sindles was a police officer with Mundelein and Hawthorn Woods in 1966 before being named deputy superintendent of corrections for the Lake County Sheriff's Office in 1987. There, he was credited with writing policies and procedures for the transition to the Lake County jail while the existing jail was being built, and helped create procedures and policies for the new facility.

He was named Round Lake Beach police chief in 1994 and served there through 2003. After retiring, he became a law enforcement teacher at College of Lake County.

"He truly had a passion for this profession," said Lake County Undersheriff Charles Fagan, who worked with Sindles since the 1970s. "He was a consummate professional who garnered a lot of respect from his peers."

Gerald Snyder, Jr.

Longtime family law attorney Gerald Snyder, 75, of Lake Bluff died June 16 from complications after having a stroke.

Snyder was known by family and friends as a tireless advocate for children and a man devoted to bettering his community.

A partner in the firm of Snyder, Clarke and Fouts, Snyder had a heart to help woman and children in crisis situations.

Law partner Jim Fouts said Snyder took a personal interest in his clients.

"There were times where a woman wouldn't be able to afford a lawyer and Gerry would pay," Fouts said. "There were times when these people needed a place to stay and Gerry would put them up in a motel. He had an unending compassion for children."

A graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, CT and the University of Wisconsin Law School, Snyder was also a member of the U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command and served from 1955 to 1958. He was a navigator in the 376th Air Refueling Squadron, which refueled jet bombers in mid-flight.

Snyder also devoted time serving in the Episcopal Church and sang in church choirs for nearly 45 years.

A member of the Lake Bluff Park Board, Snyder was instrumental in the village's planning and construction of the Blair Park Pool and Recreation Center, his wife Elaine said.

Ethel Untermyer

The woman credited as the driving force behind the creation of the Lake County Forest Preserve District, Ethel Untermyer died in her Riverwoods home on Sep. 15. She was 84.

Her death came just a year after the forest preserve district celebrated its 50th anniversary. Her campaign to start the district came from a desire to give her son a place to explore. She typed up a petition, circulated it throughout the county. The district was approved by 60 percent of the votes cast on Nov. 4, 1958. Ethel's Woods forest preserve near Antioch was named in her honor.

But Untermyer was more than merely the woman who got the forest district off the ground.

Born in Chicago, she attended Roosevelt University and was a strong supporter of the school. She also campaigned for social justice in the 1950s and got to know renowned figures such as authors James Baldwin and John Howard Griffin through that movement.

She wrote a children's book, published a newsletter about the deaf education movement and also wrote poetry, among other accomplishments.

Forest district Deputy Executive Director Andy Kimmel praised Untermyer as "a very wonderful, interesting and dynamic lady."

"Ethel loved her family a lot and loved nature a lot, and that's what drove her to feel we should have a forest preserve here in Lake County," Kimmel said. "She was a driving force in whatever she was involved in."

Robert Weinger

U.S. Army Specialist Robert Weinger, 24, of Round Lake Beach, was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on March 15. His family and friends remembered him as a true friend, loyal family member, incredible soldier and true hero. Weinger was one of four soldiers killed in the attack.

Weinger was a lifelong resident of Round Lake Beach and a 2002 graduate of Round Lake High School, who enlisted in the Army National Guard in January, 2006. It was Weinger's second overseas deployment after having served in Iraq from September 2006 through October 2007.

Mary Weinger said her grandson was a devoted child with a zest for practical jokes, but who held a tender side for family and friends.

"He was also a devoted soldier," she said "It's just a shame he won't be here any more."

Friends described him as someone quick with a laugh and willing to do anything for someone in need. "He was always nice and always was willing to put other people before himself," said longtime friend Heather Simmons of Ingleside. "He would do anything for anyone he knew."

Jim Zale

Decorated World War II veteran Jim Zale, 84, of Mundelein, died Jan. 21 after a battle with cancer. Zale was mail courier for Libertyville-Vernon Hills Area High School District 128 since 1982.

He was drafted into the Army as a 19-year-old in 1943. A year later, Zale landed on Normandy Beach on D-Day as a member of the 3rd Infantry Division. He spent the rest of the war fighting through Europe and into Germany.

He saw combat in the French countryside's infamous hedgerows, survived the Battle of the Bulge and helped liberate a German concentration camp.

Despite those experiences, Zale shunned the hero label.

"I did what I had to do," Zale told the Daily Herald in 2004. "I feel sad for all those people who didn't make it back."

After the war, Zale held a variety of jobs, said one of his daughters, Audrey Garrity of Mundelein. He delivered bread, hauled gravel and drove a truck, she said.

But it was the District 128 courier job that gave him endless joy in his later years. He loved talking with employees and students, even though he was much older than all of them.

He'd eat lunch with students and talk to history classes about his war experiences, Garrity said.

"That job was his life," she said. "If he couldn't go to work, he was miserable."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=346995">Northwest suburban notable deaths of 2009 <span class="date">[12/29/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=347021">Fox Valley notable deaths of 2009 <span class="date">[12/29/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=346983">DuPage County notable deaths of 2009 <span class="date">[12/29/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=346909">Lake County's notable deaths of 2009 <span class="date">[12/29/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>