Funeral for St. Charles woman killed in Campton crash
Funeral services have been set for Julie E. Berls, a 22-year-old recent college graduate from St. Charles who died Saturday after her car struck a utility pole in Campton Hills.
Visitation for Berls, a 2007 St. Charles East High School graduate, will be held from 3 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Yurs Funeral Home, 405 E. Main St., St. Charles.
A funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, 2900 E. Main St., St. Charles. Burial will be private.
Berls, who graduated last month from Eastern Illinois University with a degree in elementary education, was pronounced dead at the scene after authorities were called to the 39W800 block of Campton Hills Road shortly before 4 a.m. Saturday.
Her 2002 Saturn had struck a utility pole; the Kane County Coroner's office said Berls' preliminary cause of death was blunt force trauma.
No autopsy was conducted, but blood samples were sent to a lab for analysis.
Campton Hills Police Chief Dan Hoffman said authorities did not know what caused the crash and that it would probably take the Kane County Accident Reconstruction Team about a month to finish its investigation and report.
“It's a very curvy and hilly road,” Hoffman said. “And dark. It's conducive to accidents, to be honest with you.”
Berls' family could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but her obituary told of her love for horseback riding and glowing personality.
“She spent much of her free time riding horses and sharing her passion of horses with others. She could brighten any room she walked in with her beautiful smile and loving personality,” it said on the Yurs website.
For more information about the services, call (630) 584-0060 or visit yursfuneralhomes.com.