Libertyville woman dies weeks after crash

A 21-year-old Libertyville woman has died from injuries she suffered in a downstate automobile accident in July, officials said Monday.

Margaret Chickey, a 2007 graduate of Libertyville High School, was injured July 15 while trying to drive herself to a hospital in Mattoon, said Stella Stafford, an administrative staffer for the Coles County Sheriff Department in nearby Charleston.

Stafford said Chickey was westbound on Route 16, heading toward Sarah Bush-Lincoln Medical Center, when she became disoriented and her car left the roadway.

The car crashed into a ditch at 12:35 a.m., Stafford said. Chickey was taken to the hospital in Mattoon before being transported to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. She died Friday.

The accident remains under investigation, Stafford said.

Visitation is 3 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, at the Burnett-Dane Funeral Home, 120 W. Park Ave., Libertyville.

Funeral services are set for 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Lawrence Episcopal Church, 125 W. Church St., Libertyville. Interment is Thursday in the church columbarium.

Chickey was planning to attend her senior year at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. Family members said in her obituary that she was working toward a teaching degree and was an elementary education major.

She was also described as artistic, creative, thoughtful and loved by all who knew her.

Family members declined to comment when contacted at their Libertyville home Monday.