Notable deaths in DuPage County 2011
When you step back and remember some of the DuPage County residents who lost their lives in 2011, you can't help but marvel at how much some of them accomplished and to ache at the thought of how much others could have done, given just a little more time.
Read through the names and you'll find developers and athletes, librarians and bush pilots, dreamers and doers, trailblazers and budding stars.
Some led full and complete lives. Some died far too soon.
Each, in their own way, made a difference in the lives of those they touched and, in many cases, the lives of some they never even knew.
Theirs were lives well lived, lives worth remembering and celebrating.
Miriam Fry, 93
She joined the Naperville Library staff in the late 1940s and became director of the downtown Nichols Library in 1950. Over the next 34 years, she oversaw the library's expansion and eventual move into a new building — all the while maintaining a family atmosphere with the staff.
Joel Kunesh, 74
The Winfield trustee was instrumental in raising money for an ambitious Riverwalk project after being elected to the village board in 2005. A religious man who seldom had unkind words for anyone, he died after battling an undisclosed illness.
William Kassal, 80
The former Bloomingdale Township supervisor was described by friends and family as “the last of the cowboys.” A burly, outgoing man, he served as township supervisor for 17 years before finally losing a re-election bid in 1996. A staunch Republican, he had a soft spot in his heart for seniors.
Bilal Mallick, 15
The Naperville North High School sophomore from Lisle loved sports, especially football, and was a member of both the Junior Statesmen of America and the Muslim Students Association. Friends said his smile and personality could light up a room, even after he was diagnosed with leukemia.
Joseph Vantreese, 43
Friends said the Fox Valley developer from Batavia was a passionate advocate for projects he believed in, including River Street Plaza, a high-end condo development on the west bank of the Fox River in Aurora during the mid-2000s. “He changed the landscape of the downtown very quickly,” Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner said. Vantreese lost his 15-month battle with leukemia in March.
John Davis, 73
When the Naperville man was in his late 50s he suffered a heart attack and decided to start running again. He wound up completing 26 marathons — including Chicago, Boston, New York, London and Berlin — and becoming a fixture in the DuPage-area running community. He died in March after a short battle with pancreatic cancer.
Edward Gardner, 38
The Naperville man was traveling north on the Tri-State Tollway in Schiller Park over the Memorial Day weekend when he saw a family of ducks trying to cross the road. He got out of his car and was trying to help the ducklings to safety when he was struck and killed by a limousine. No citations were issued.
Ralph Smykal, 82
The longtime Wheaton resident was an influential developer in the city where he lived. But he also was a pillar of the community in many other ways, whether it was donating $500,000 to the DuPage Community Foundation so it could buy its current office suite or serving as a board member at Central DuPage Hospital. He died at home in May.
Donna Early, 69
The Naperville woman was struck and killed July 3 by a vehicle driven by a Lisle man who was charged with drunken driving. Early and her husband, Bill, were heading back to their home in the Steeple Run neighborhood after watching the fireworks at Lisle's Eyes to the Skies celebration.
Andrew Yender, 93
A lifelong resident of Lisle and a charter member of the Lisle Heritage Society, he was a fountain of knowledge about the village's history. A World War II veteran and a builder who helped construct more than 50 houses around Lisle, he was fond of regaling listeners with stories about growing up on a farm, riding ponies to school and delivering milk from the family's dairy.
Don Maxwell, 73
One of the drivers behind Wheaton's last period of real growth, he served on the city council from 1984 to 1992 and as interim mayor from mid-1992 until the 1993 election. He was on the council when Danada developed into a major commercial center.
Thomas Gleason, 18
The 2011 Naperville Central High School graduate who loved hockey and Notre Dame football was killed in early July when his 2006 Toyota Pathfinder left the road and struck a tree. He was planning to attend Illinois State University in the fall.Georgene Geils, 83
After 43 years in Bloomingdale, Georgene Geils touched nearly every aspect of the community with her volunteer work and business savvy, including her longtime family business, Econo-Mart. Geils died in late July due to complications from cancer.
Paul Boecker, 79
The longtime Lisle resident served as chief of the Lisle-Woodridge Fire District from 1971 to 1994. Praised as an incredibly fair person, he played a pivotal role in turning what had been part-time firefighters into a full-time professional organization. He also created the Keep the Wreath Red campaign, which fire departments across the state adopted to keep track of Christmas holiday fires. He died in August after battling an undisclosed illness.
John #8220;Jack#8221; Kreft, 62
He was working as a mortician in 1971 when he became a volunteer firefighter in Warrenville. He later would join the Addison Fire Protection District and spend three decades there, including two years as chief, before retiring in 2006. A Bensenville native, he died in late August after a four-month battle with lung cancer.
Jovana Vasic, 20
The budding tennis star, formerly of Naperville, was headed to Northern Arizona University to start her junior year when she was killed in a traffic accident in Wheeler County, Texas. Born in Serbia, her family eventually settled in Naperville. She became an All-American tennis player and was expected to change the face of tennis at her school.
Paul Westlund, 57
Family members said the former West Chicago resident lived a life straight out of a movie. As a bush pilot in Indonesia, he flew a small plane from island to island, helping farmers and merchants peddle their wares and make a living. He was killed in September when his plane crashed into the side of a mountain.
Mirdza Robeznieks, 82
As she backed her car out of her garage in September, Robeznieks suffered an aortic aneurysm and the car rolled into the pond behind her Itasca home. Medical examiners said she ultimately drowned. Family and friends said they were searching for peace after losing a caring woman who emigrated from Latvia, traveled the world and remained active in the Chicago area's Latvian community.
Bruce Madiar, 62
Autopsy results were inconclusive in September after Madiar was found dead outside his Roselle home after apparently trying to clear an insect hive from his property. Medical examiner officials said they initially suspected insect stings caused a deadly allergic reaction. Madiar had just retired from his career as a master locksmith with Cook County, and he was formerly president of Local Union 63 International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Iron Workers.
Arthur Holmes, 87
He was the former chairman of the philosophy department at Wheaton College and a noted philosopher credited with influencing the wider Christian community. He spent his entire professional career at the school, teaching philosophy for 43 years.
Ramie Harris, 21
A junior psychology student at Wheaton College, she died along with three others, including her father and sister, when their small plane crashed in a soybean field near Crystal Lake. Her father was flying the plane from Marion, Ind., to Wheaton.
Randy Suchy, 59
A nurse and Naperville resident, he died while saving a 12-year-old Bolingbrook boy from the Fox River near the dam in Geneva. Also a veteran of the Marines, Suchy pushed the boy far enough away from the dam to escape its undertow, but was underwater too long to survive.
Shawn Somerville, 49
The Wheaton man was an avid outdoorsman with a passion for family, food and friends. Employed in the municipal bond department at William Blair and Co. in Chicago, he was struck by a car in late December on Geneva Road near Knollwood Drive.