Motorcyclist killed in Lake in the Hills crash was 'coolest dad'

Jessica Muniz said her father was the coolest dad on the block to the kids who lived in the neighborhood in which she grew up.

The neighborhood kids would always know Frank Muniz was home when they heard the engine of his motorcycle or car. They would run over to him and ask to ride on the bike. No matter how exhausted he was from his work as a truck driver, he took the time to make the kids happy with a slow ride to the end of the block and back.

"He was like a big kid," Jessica Muniz recalled. "He always had that happy personality."

Frank Muniz, 52, of Chicago died in a crash involving multiple motorcycles March 21 in Lake in the Hills. He died of blunt trauma, according to the McHenry County coroner's office.

Lake in the Hills police were dispatched about 11 a.m. that Sunday to Virginia Road near Pingree Road after one motorcyclist in a group of seven lost control, resulting in a collision involving four vehicles, according to a news release.

Kari Minasola of Trout Valley - a bystander - and Crystal Lake police performed lifesaving measures on one of the motorcyclists as other emergency responders arrived, Lake in the Hills police said in the release.

Coming back from yoga, Minasola noticed two cars ahead of her and a couple of motorcycles on the ground.

"Everybody there was trying to help them," Minasola said.

Frank Muniz had four children who Jessica Muniz said were "everything" to him and four grandchildren he doted on.

When Jessica Muniz would post a picture of them on Facebook, her dad was the first one to comment: "I love my grandchildren so much," he'd write.

Nicolas Muniz, Frank's older son, attributes his own love of cars and skateboarding to his father.

A "free spirit," Frank Muniz would take Nicolas to car shows and even won some competitions.

"We'd pull up to these car events, and all these people knew him," Nicolas Muniz said. "It was like living with someone who was super famous."

"He was so social," Jessica Muniz said. "One thing I always love to say about him was you could put my dad in a room of 20 strangers, and he's going to come out of that room with 20 new friends."

To take care of memorial and burial services, Jessica Muniz started a GoFundMe in her father's honor. During the first 24 hours it was live, the family raised close to $10,000, and by Friday evening, it had reached $15,060.

For both Nicolas and Jessica Muniz, seeing that was amazing.

"It just shows how much people loved my dad and how much he meant to so many people," Jessica said. "It makes my heart feel so full, and it makes this really horrific situation just a tiny bit better."