Family remembers slain Naperville teacher with 'joy and gratitude'
When Naperville teacher Shaun Wild was killed in a bar stabbing in 2012, the world lost a positive, kind young man who could have inspired many others if he had more time in this world, family members said Wednesday.
As Wild's family learned of the 43-year prison sentence for Wild's killer, Daniel J. Olaska, relatives kept their thoughts on Shaun and his upbeat, loving personality.
“He never hesitated to make the extra effort and reach out to show his love to his family and friends,” Shaun's sister, Shannon, said in her victim impact statement during Olaska's sentencing hearing.
The grief will carry past the closure of the sentencing, and so will the Wild family's efforts to continue Shaun's work of teaching young children and living a life of “joy and gratitude,” his mother, Jami, said.
The family has established scholarships at both of Wild's alma maters — Brown Deer High School in Wisconsin and North Central College in Naperville. A Facebook page, “In Memory of Shaun Wild,” includes a link to a fundraising website for North Central College, where people can donate to the Living Life on The Wild Side scholarship by typing the fund's name into line 13.
Shortly after Shaun's death, his mother remembers her other son Kevin saying, “Shaun would not want this to define us nor destroy us.” She took it to heart.
“As hard as this is,” Jami Wild said, “we try every day to honor Shaun through living a life of joy and gratitude.”