Glen Ellyn mourns teen killed in rollover

It wasn't tough to figure out Rolando Salcedo Jr. loved the Beatles. Any student who rode the bus with the Hadley Junior High School eighth-grader knew firsthand.

The 14-year-old from Glen Ellyn would often try to get others on his bus to join him in a morning rendition of “Yellow Submarine.”

“He was just a great kid all around,” said Jennifer Rivera, Rolando's aunt. “Anyone who met him, there was no way you could not like him.”

On Saturday, Rolando died in downstate Martinton Township when the car he was in flipped and landed in a ditch. Rolando had been traveling with his father and 15-year-old brother.

He was pronounced dead at Iroquois Memorial Hospital. His father and brother were treated at Riverside Medical Center in Kankakee.

Iroquois County police say the car swerved to avoid an animal and the elder Salcedo was ticketed for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

Rivera remembered Salcedo as a strong kid who loved swimming and skateboarding. Every morning, she said, the budding meteorologist would run to the television and turn on the Weather Channel.

“He was just a clown,” Rivera said. “He loved to sing, liked to dance. Like most young guys, he loved video games.”

The second of four children, Rolando and his older brother, Alex, were best of friends. He also looked out for his younger sister and younger brother, Rivera said.

This summer, Rolando, an avid Chicago White Sox fan, moved from Plainfield to Glen Ellyn to stay with his father. On his first day at Hadley, he was all smiles as he toured the school alongside his mother, Victoria Martinez, and school counselor Kyle Sieck.

“He was always trying to make people laugh and loved to just goof and talk with people in the hallway,” Sieck said. “He had a positive influence on a lot of different kids. He affected just about everyone who he came in contact with.”

When he was with his skateboarding pals, Rolando made sure they were taken care of. He always told his fellow students to wear gloves and protect themselves.

School counselor Emmah Welsh said Rolando was quick to shrug off anybody who bothered him. He often told jokes and the story of his Beatles fanaticism on the bus illustrated his personality, she said.

“He had a great sense of humor,” Welsh said. “He was just a calm, quiet spirit who never really let things bother him.”

Hadley Principal Chris Dransoff in a release to parents said the school would make available school psychologists and social workers for students and staff.

Welsh said counselors and administrators visited Rolando's classes to help students and teachers deal with their grief.

“It's a difficult thing for them,” said Kyle Sieck, Rolando's counselor. “A lot of them have not had a lot of experience dealing with death.”

When Rivera found out about the death, she said she was crushed.

“I was just so devastated,” Rivera said. “He was such a strong kid.”

Rivera said the outpouring of support has been overwhelming. Martinez's employer, Lemont Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, and co-workers covered funeral expenses for the family.

Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at St. Mary Immaculate Catholic Church, 15269 S. Route 59, Plainfield.