Post by title1parent on Aug 2, 2011 5:44:24 GMT -5
Family, friends mourn loss of ‘wonderful young man’
BY BILL BIRD/ Naperville Sun
wbird@stmedianetwork.com
Last Modified: Aug 1, 2011 10:56PM
The pain would probably be unbearable, Ken Kaden said, if not for the unconditional, seemingly limitless love of family and friends.
“He was a wonderful, wonderful young man. He just turned 17 on June 30,” Kaden said Monday of his son, Jonathan “Jon” Kaden, who was killed Friday afternoon by a Metra train near Naperville’s northeast side.
“We are, of course, grieving,” Kaden said of himself, wife Patti Shore Kaden and their elder son, Jeremy Kaden, who live in the University Heights area of Naperville’s far southeast side.
“But there has been an unbelievable outpouring of love and support from the entire community, and in particular from North Central College and the kids from Naperville Central (High School),” where Jon would have been a junior this fall, Kaden said.
Jon Kaden died about 4:05 p.m. Friday after being struck by a seven-car, Chicago-bound train. The accident occurred east of Metra’s Fourth Avenue station, in an unincorporated area of DuPage County between the Naperville Country Club and the city’s Spring Hill neighborhood.
A spokeswoman for the DuPage County sheriff’s office said Monday she would not comment on the matter because it involved a juvenile. DuPage County Coroner Pete Siekmann declined to comment, saying the incident remained under investigation.
Jon Kaden was a staff member of The Central Times, Naperville Central High School’s student newspaper. He recently participated in a summer journalism workshop at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind.
“Jonathan had thought of becoming a photojournalist or videojournalist” upon completion of college, his father said. “He was to be an editor on the school paper this fall.”
Ken Kaden said Jon also worked part-time at the Dairy Queen on Wehrli Road, within walking distance of the family’s home.
“His first job there was to be making the Dilly Bars,” the Dairy Queen company’s signature, circular ice cream novelty, Ken Kaden said. He chuckled softly while recalling how his son’s Facebook page proudly proclaimed him to be “jondillybarkaden.”
Ken Kaden has performed in community theater productions, including the current revival of “Hello, Dolly!” at North Central College.
The college community “has been extremely generous” in its emotional support of his family following his son’s death, Ken Kaden said. “Everyone has been loving and supportive.”
He also expressed his gratitude to “the literally thousands of people” — more than 2,200 at last count — who have visited and published tributes on the memorial Facebook page created in his son’s honor.
Other remembrances have been made or are in the offing. Ken Kaden said a performance of the musical “Rent” was to be staged Monday night in Jon’s honor at Center Stage Theater in Naperville.
One of Jon’s Naperville Central classmates is using Facebook to sell purple-colored T-shirts to fellow students, in the hope they will wear them Aug. 17, the first day of the 2011-12 academic year.
The shirts will be embossed with Jon’s name and make reference to his passion for both photography and Dilly Bars, with proceeds going to a yet-undetermined charity. More than 200 orders for the shirts had been placed as of Monday.
Ken Kaden said he has been told “a lot of the kids from the Dairy Queen” and other employees will be wearing shirts bearing the company’s logo during a memorial for his son. It is set for 4 p.m. Wednesday in North Central College’s Pfeiffer Hall, at 310 E. Benton Ave. east of downtown Naperville.
A private burial service is scheduled for Wednesday morning, Ken Kaden said. He invited friends and relatives to visit the Kaden family in their house at 1516 Fordham Court following the memorial service.
BY BILL BIRD/ Naperville Sun
wbird@stmedianetwork.com
Last Modified: Aug 1, 2011 10:56PM
The pain would probably be unbearable, Ken Kaden said, if not for the unconditional, seemingly limitless love of family and friends.
“He was a wonderful, wonderful young man. He just turned 17 on June 30,” Kaden said Monday of his son, Jonathan “Jon” Kaden, who was killed Friday afternoon by a Metra train near Naperville’s northeast side.
“We are, of course, grieving,” Kaden said of himself, wife Patti Shore Kaden and their elder son, Jeremy Kaden, who live in the University Heights area of Naperville’s far southeast side.
“But there has been an unbelievable outpouring of love and support from the entire community, and in particular from North Central College and the kids from Naperville Central (High School),” where Jon would have been a junior this fall, Kaden said.
Jon Kaden died about 4:05 p.m. Friday after being struck by a seven-car, Chicago-bound train. The accident occurred east of Metra’s Fourth Avenue station, in an unincorporated area of DuPage County between the Naperville Country Club and the city’s Spring Hill neighborhood.
A spokeswoman for the DuPage County sheriff’s office said Monday she would not comment on the matter because it involved a juvenile. DuPage County Coroner Pete Siekmann declined to comment, saying the incident remained under investigation.
Jon Kaden was a staff member of The Central Times, Naperville Central High School’s student newspaper. He recently participated in a summer journalism workshop at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind.
“Jonathan had thought of becoming a photojournalist or videojournalist” upon completion of college, his father said. “He was to be an editor on the school paper this fall.”
Ken Kaden said Jon also worked part-time at the Dairy Queen on Wehrli Road, within walking distance of the family’s home.
“His first job there was to be making the Dilly Bars,” the Dairy Queen company’s signature, circular ice cream novelty, Ken Kaden said. He chuckled softly while recalling how his son’s Facebook page proudly proclaimed him to be “jondillybarkaden.”
Ken Kaden has performed in community theater productions, including the current revival of “Hello, Dolly!” at North Central College.
The college community “has been extremely generous” in its emotional support of his family following his son’s death, Ken Kaden said. “Everyone has been loving and supportive.”
He also expressed his gratitude to “the literally thousands of people” — more than 2,200 at last count — who have visited and published tributes on the memorial Facebook page created in his son’s honor.
Other remembrances have been made or are in the offing. Ken Kaden said a performance of the musical “Rent” was to be staged Monday night in Jon’s honor at Center Stage Theater in Naperville.
One of Jon’s Naperville Central classmates is using Facebook to sell purple-colored T-shirts to fellow students, in the hope they will wear them Aug. 17, the first day of the 2011-12 academic year.
The shirts will be embossed with Jon’s name and make reference to his passion for both photography and Dilly Bars, with proceeds going to a yet-undetermined charity. More than 200 orders for the shirts had been placed as of Monday.
Ken Kaden said he has been told “a lot of the kids from the Dairy Queen” and other employees will be wearing shirts bearing the company’s logo during a memorial for his son. It is set for 4 p.m. Wednesday in North Central College’s Pfeiffer Hall, at 310 E. Benton Ave. east of downtown Naperville.
A private burial service is scheduled for Wednesday morning, Ken Kaden said. He invited friends and relatives to visit the Kaden family in their house at 1516 Fordham Court following the memorial service.