Itasca woman's family finding peace after fatal accident

Family members say they're finding peace in knowing what led to the accident that killed Mirdza Robeznieks last week in Itasca.

Robeznieks, 82, died Sept. 22 as she backed her 1995 Buick out of the garage and the car rolled into the pond behind her home on the 200 block of Bay Drive.

Her husband, Gunnar, 85, was in the driveway and ran to save her, but slipped and suffered severe cuts and bruises from rocks near the pond. The car floated briefly in the shallow end of the pond before moving to the middle and sinking in about 10 feet of water, police said.

This week, officials from the Cook County Medical Examiner's office said Mirdza Robeznieks suffered from an aortic aneurysm, or swelling of the largest artery in the body that runs from the heart to the abdomen. While she was driving the artery ruptured, officials said, which can cause massive internal injury and death without prompt treatment.

Although medical reports said Robeznieks ultimately drowned, doctors at Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village told her son, John, any suffering was brief.

“I talked to the (emergency room) doctor because I really wanted to tell my kids, my niece and my nephew whether grandma suffered,” said John Robeznieks, a Palatine attorney. “I remember very clearly him saying there was no petechial hemorrhaging, which would indicate a struggle during drowning.”

After Gunnar's attempt to save his wife, an Itasca police sergeant and two officers rushed into the pond. Deputy Chief Robert O'Connor said the car already had sunk to the bottom, but an officer was able to dive down and break the passenger-side window.

He could not find Robeznieks in the dark water, however, and the officer needed nearly a dozen stitches after the rescue effort, O'Connor said.

“He came up for air, then went to the other side and still couldn't see her,” O'Connor said.

The Itasca Fire Protection District and divers from Elk Grove Village arrived next and were able to pull the woman out, officials said. Family and police confirm Robeznieks had not even removed her seat belt, leading her son to believe she was unconscious before entering the pond.

“Although there was some water in her lungs, there seemed to be no fear or knowledge this was happening,” he said. “When the water came into the car, she took a breath of water and God took her. That is what I tell my children.”

Now as Robeznieks' family prepares for memorial services Monday and Tuesday, her son said leafing through photo albums has been “very cathartic.”

Mirdza Robeznieks emigrated from Latvia to the United States during World War II, her son said. She soon met Gunnar, who became her husband for 57 years. The couple lived in Chicago briefly, then settled in Franklin Park for 42 years.

They moved to Itasca about 13 years ago and Robeznieks became heavily involved with St. Peter's Latvian Lutheran Church in Wood Dale, where she served as its treasurer.

At home, she was very active in the Chicago-area Latvian community. On the day she died, she was heading to proofread the Latvian newsletter “Cikagas Zinas.” Although she didn't officially work for the publication, she liked to help the editor and her close friend, Inara Simanis.

When she wasn't in Itasca, Robeznieks traveled the world. After retiring in 1981 from a department store on State Street in Chicago, where she worked for 35 years, Robeznieks joined her cousin on more than a dozen trips overseas.

The mother of two and grandmother of four collected many albums that include photos from trips to China, Spain, South Africa and destinations across the globe.

“I'm looking at a photo of her 50 feet from a lion on safari in Africa ... newspapers and TV keep referring to her as ‘elderly,' but we never think of her that way,” John Robeznieks said.

Visitation will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, Oct. 3, at The Oaks Funeral Home, 1201 E. Irving Park Road, Itasca. A funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4, at St. Peter's Latvian Lutheran Church, 450 Forest Preserve Drive, Wood Dale. Burial will follow at Acacia Park Cemetery, 7800 W. Irving Park Road, Norridge.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made at the services to the Mirdza Robeznieks Memorial Fund.