22-year-old former Round Lake Beach resident killed in crash
Services will be held this week for Army Spc. Maritza Padilla-Gomez, 22, former Round Lake Beach resident, who was killed in a traffic accident in Georgia.
Padilla-Gomez, a soldier stationed at Fort Benning, Ga., was one of two soldiers killed July 13 in a three-vehicle accident about 50 miles west of Augusta, according to the Georgia Department of Public Safety.
Padilla-Gomez was born in Chicago. She lived in Round Lake Beach and was a 2008 graduate of Grayslake North High School.
She joined the Army in 2009.
She was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Sgt. Martin Bowman, of Columbia, S.C., who also died in the accident.
Both soldiers were stationed at Fort Benning, Ga., and were attached to the Forward Support Company, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.
Besides her parents, Daniel and Maricela Padilla, she is survived by her grandfather, Jesus Gomez; two brothers, Eduardo and Daniel; a sister, Marisol; and many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins.
Visitation is 3 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, July 25 at Strang Funeral Chapel & Crematorium, 410 E. Belvidere Road (oute 120) Grayslake. A funeral Mass is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 114 N. Lincoln Ave., Round Lake.
Burial will be at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood.