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Remembering those we’ve lost: Notable deaths across the suburbs in 2024

As we close out 2024, we remember those we lost this year in the suburbs.

Educators, public servants, business leaders and philanthropists were among them, all leaving indelible marks through their accomplishments and dedication.

Sanjay Shah, founder and CEO of Hoffman Estates-based Vistex, Inc., died Jan. 18. AP

Sanjay Shah

Jan. 18: Sanjay Shah, 56, the founder and CEO of Hoffman Estates-based international software firm Vistex, was killed in an accident at an event in India celebrating the company’s 25th anniversary. Company President Raju Datla, 52, of Barrington also was initially critically injured by a 15-foot fall from an elevated stage when one of its supports broke. Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod said he considers Shah’s death a deep loss for the entire community, not just the company he founded.

Nancy Koske

Former Fox Lake Mayor Nancy E. Koske

Jan. 24: Nancy E. Koske, a longtime Fox Lake resident who served as the town’s first female mayor and a village trustee, died at age 72. Koske began her political service as a Fox Lake District 114 board member, a post she held for 12 years. She was elected mayor in 2001 and served one term. After a two-year break from political service, Koske was elected trustee in 2007 and went on to serve until retiring from political life in 2021.

Mike Horcher

Former Wheeling Trustee Mike Horcher Courtesy of the Horcher family

March 16: Former Wheeling trustee and local farming patriarch Mike Horcher died at age 89. Horcher — father of current Wheeling Village President Pat Horcher — was a fourth-generation farmer, part of an operation that dates to 1848. The Horcher Farm is the last remaining farm in Wheeling. Horcher served two terms as village trustee, from 2001 to 2009, and was a Cook County Farm Bureau board member for 28 years.

Al Larson

  A display which includes a photo and a wreath honors former Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson outside council chambers on March 22 in Schaumburg. Larson died at 85 on March 19. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com

March 19: Former Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson, a visionary leader who guided the community for more than four decades as it grew into the second-largest economic hub in Illinois, died at age 85. His 32 years as mayor and prior 12 years as a village trustee were characterized by an unwavering drive to improve the community, but also a willingness to protect the status quo when preferable. Larson was an ardent supporter of the arts and cultural events in town. He retired from public service in 2019, having helped build a center of commerce in the Northwest suburbs.

Richard Erzen

Richard “Dick” Erzen, College of Lake County founding president

April 6: Richard “Dick” Erzen, the College of Lake County’s first president, died on his 96th birthday. In June 1968, Erzen was working at Illinois Valley Community College in LaSalle County when he was hired to supervise the initial development of the college that began as an organizing group in 1962 and officially established via referendum in 1967. He resigned from CLC in 1977 and joined the NCR Corporation before returning to central Illinois as a professor emeritus at Illinois State University in Normal.

Dax

  Dax, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office K9, officially retired after 10 years of service during a ceremony on April 10, 2024 in Libertyville. He died April 12. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com

April 12: Dax, the decorated, nationally known crime-fighting police dog, died just two days after a public celebration of his illustrious career with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. Seriously injured March 3 while apprehending a fleeing suspect, the department veteran went through intensive therapy but was subsequently retired. The 9-year-old German shepherd joined the sheriff’s office in 2015 and tallied an impressive list of accomplishments during his service, made a national television appearance and won several awards.

Dave Yates

Fremd girls basketball coach Dave Yates, pictured in a 2019 game at Conant, is among the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame 2024 inductees. He died June 11. Daily Herald file

June 11: The 18-year Fremd High School girls basketball coach led his team to a third-place state finish three months before his death at 54 due to brain cancer. An Elgin native who also was the school’s math department chair, Yates compiled a 425-137 record at Fremd and 512-191 overall including stints in Arizona and at Mahomet-Seymour High School. He was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2024 and won a National Federation of State High School Federations Spirit of Sport Award.

Gloria Jean Kvetko

Gloria Jean Kvetko Courtesy of Tom Jaworski

June 14: Gloria Jean Kvetko of Long Grove, the founder and namesake of the international brand Gloria Jean’s Gourmet Coffees, died at age 82. She opened her first shop in historic downtown Long Grove in 1979, intending it as a stand-alone family business. But the venture grew into a nationwide presence of more than 220 stores before she sold the company in 1993. Today, the brand has more than 600 locations in 40 countries.

Barbara Williams

July 18: Former Vernon Hills mayor and longtime village trustee Barb Williams, 80, died in Mooresville, North Carolina. Williams was a driver/dispatcher and later manager at a school bus company who got into local politics in 1981. An outspoken community champion, she served 28 years on the village board including four as mayor. During her tenure, Vernon Hills exploded in geographic size through annexations and grew tenfold to the current population of about 27,000 people.

Raju Datla

July 19: Raju Datla, 54, of Barrington, president of Hoffman Estates-based international software firm Vistex, died from complications of injuries suffered in a Jan. 18 fall in India that immediately killed the company’s founder and CEO. Datla’s death had secondary causes from carotid stenosis, or narrowing of a carotid artery, as well as a prior stroke, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Henry ‘Hank’ Curcio

Hank Curcio

Oct. 3: Henry C. “Hank” Curcio, who served as a Schaumburg village trustee for a decade, died at age 90. Elected to the village board in April 2003, the Chicago native retired in August 2013 citing his age at the time. “One thing about Hank is that when he came to the board he was a little bit older and had great experience,” Schaumburg Mayor Tom Dailly said. “He was a great person to have on the board.”

George Longmeyer

George Longmeyer
Former Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson and former Village Manager George Longmeyer take a village bike path on “Bike to Work Day” in 1992. Daily Herald file, 1992

Oct. 9: George Longmeyer, 83, served both Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg as village manager before being elected a commissioner of the Schaumburg Park District. After more than four decades of public service, Longmeyer retired in April 2021 when he did not seek reelection to the park board. He first served Schaumburg as assistant village manager from 1980 to 1986, then as village manager until 1998. During his tenure, the village saw the redevelopment of Town Square, the purchase of the Schaumburg Airport and got approval to build the baseball stadium now known as Wintrust Field.

Richard “Dick” Kolze

Richard Kolze

Oct. 21: Richard “Dick” Kolze, 94, joined Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 in 1957 before leading it as superintendent from 1970 to 1990. Former superintendents Gerald Chapman and Nancy Robb noted his influence on them at a gathering in 2017. Robb said the standard Kolze set in those he hired and the leadership team he created has influenced the district through the years since his retirement. Kolze later served on the Harper College Board for 12 years, four of them as board president.

Gary Grouwinkel

Gary Grouwinkel

Nov. 28: Gary Grouwinkel, an Iowa native who played on the offensive line for the University of Iowa’s 1957 and 1959 Rose Bowl victories, and was football coach at York High School from 1982 to 1999, died at age 88 in Mesa, Arizona. Grouwinkel became the York football program’s wins leader with a record of 108-63. York had won 14 games in seven seasons before he arrived after coaching at Prospect High School. In 1999, he was inducted into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Diane Dunham

Diane Dunham

Nov. 30: Diane Dunham, a former 20-year trustee of Schaumburg Township and the wife of 52 years of Schaumburg senior village Trustee George Dunham, died after a recurrence of cancer. She immigrated to the U.S. from Poland at age 12 with her family in 1961. Her two decades of elected service to the community that began in 2000 were inspired in part by her earlier involvement in village election campaigns, her husband George said.

For more on influential people who died in 2024 nationwide and globally, check out dailyherald.com.

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