Tragedy hits close to home for Barrington Hills priest

As a parish priest, Rev. Jim Swarthout is no stranger to death.

But early Friday morning, it came to his doorstep when three Chicago teenagers died in the Fox River just outside his Barrington Hills home.

Swarthout, who started as a Roman Catholic priest before becoming an Episcopalian, has shared his riverfront home, called "Even Song," with his wife, Claudia, for the past five years.

For many years before the couple settled in Barrington Hills, the Swarthouts looked for a property on the river, hoping to find a place where they could reflect and pray.

"Water, in our Christian faith, is a place of life and a place of death," Swarthout said.

Early Friday morning, the Fox River was a place of death. Three teen boys from a charter school on Chicago's West Side - Melvin Choice, Jimmie Avant and Adrian Jones - drowned while attempting to ride paddleboats on the cold, rushing river.

The boys had been staying at nearby Camp Algonquin for an eight-day leadership retreat.

The Swarthouts were awakened Friday by the noise and lights of rescue crews trying to find the boys. The paddleboats the boys had used were on the shore of the river on Swarthout's property.

"I remember sitting in the house waiting for first light, hoping we would find someone in the first light," Swarthout said.

After a few hours, the couple realized the rescue mission had turned into a search for three bodies. Swarthout thinks the boys reached the shore and tried to swim back.

"Claudia and I prayed that they would have rang our doorbell," Swarthout said. "I would have been glad to drive them back at 1 a.m."

Swarthout, the pastor at St. Gregory's Church in McHenry, has led Mass at Episcopalian retreats held at Camp Algonquin.

One of the boys - Melvin Choice - had attended St. Gregory's Episcopal Grade School in Chicago, where Swarthout now works as an administrator, though he never knew the boy.

Swarthout also had a friend on the staff of Lawndale College Prep - the high school the three boys attended.

After the bodies were found, a police officer told the Swarthouts what had happened.

"We're deeply saddened by the loss of any life on our river, but to find there was a connection makes it more heartbreaking," Swarthout said. "There's a cloud of sadness over our house."

Swarthout, who used to write a column on faith for the Northwest Herald, was inspired Saturday morning to write an essay about his experience.

"The story happened in front of my eyes. I thought I had to share it with people," he said.

While his feelings about the river are now mixed with grief and mourning, Swarthout says "new life evolves from every devastating moment."

"It's still beautiful," he said. "We'll move on."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=250985">Rev. Jim Swarthout's essay <span class="date">[11/16/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>