Amtrak crash victim a dance teacher who 'saw talent
in every kid'
Scene of a collision between an
Amtrak train and an SUV in University Park.
Katie Lunn had spent the past year
helping prepare several young dancers for solo performances in a dance competition
at Governors State University and was proud that they had done well.
Lunn, a dance instructor and manager
at the School of Performing Arts in Naperville, was to return this morning for
the second day of the grueling competition, the American Dance Awards. But on
her way home to Chicago Friday
evening, her SUV was struck by a northbound Amtrak train at a crossing in
University Park in the Southwest suburb.
The crash was witnessed by a mother
and teenage daughter--a student at the dance school-- who were driving behind
her. They did not know at the time that the teacher was behind the wheel, said
Joni Wiltz Berkley, managing director of the school.
Lunn, 26, was pronounced dead at
10:57 p.m.
The parent told school officials
that the tracks were confusing and that Lunn's car got stuck between the
tracks.
Canadian National Railway, which owns
the tracks is investigating circumstances related to the crash, including
whether any signal systems were deployed, said Spokesman Patrick Waldron.
University Park police are also investigating.
The school pulled out of today's
competition because of the accident, said Wiltz Berkley.
"They work all year to get to
this point, so it's a time when she could be proud of her kids and cheer them
on. She was the biggest cheerleader for kids,'' said Wiltz Berkley.
Lunn, who had worked at the school
for about six years, was a dance teacher and manager of the dance ensemble. She
taught about 50 children between the ages of three and 18 who competed and
performed throughout the Chicago area, said
Wiltz Berkley.
"She was unique in the fact
that she saw talent in every kid that walked into her classroom and her gift
was to make them love dance,'' said Wiltz Berkley.
She said that Lunn also found
comfort in teaching and choreographing dance and that it helped last year when
the teacher lost a close friend to cancer.
"She found it very uplifting
and rejuvenating,'' said Wiltz Berkley. "She loved it because it was so
rewarding to work with the kids."
The school and the students are
mourning her loss and feel that they have lost a "member of their
family," said Wiltz Berkley. On the school's website, officials said they
have decided to continue teaching her classes.
"She liked performing and she
liked teaching. She touched a lot of little girls' hearts, I know that,'' said
her father, Jerry Lunn from his home in Iowa, where his daughter grew up.
"She just liked kids."
For about three years Lunn danced
with a Chicago dance
ensemble, Hip Hop Connxion and was scheduled to perform Sunday afternoon with
the group, said Shelley Mitchell, a close friend and fellow group member. (See
video of Hip Hop Connxion HERE.)
Lunn had planned to go to a
rehearsal on Friday evening but rearranged her schedule so she could watch her
students perform at Governor's State.
"She had the type of
personality where she could walk into a room and everyone's attitude would
change because she was such a positive person,'' Mitchell said through her
tears. "The greatest quality about Katie is that she just cared so much
for everybody.''
Mitchell said she and Lunn worked
closely with the anti-drug program D.A.R.E., performing for children.
This past Christmas Lunn, a devout Christian, helped organized a fund raising
effort to purchase presents for D.A.R.E. children on the West Side of Chicago.
Mitchell said she last spoke to Lunn
about five hours before the accident to let her friend know that she had
just signed a lease for a Lincoln Park
apartment around the corner from Lunn's home.
"I was excited for us to be
able to see each other more,'' said Mitchell, who has known Lunn for about four
years.
Members of the hip hop group
will decide whether to continue with their Sunday performance, said
Mitchell.
The youngest of three children, Lunn
graduated from Oklahoma City University with a degree in dance management, said
her father. She moved to the area about six years ago, he said, teaching dance
in the summer to children at the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago.
According to her biography on the
school's website Lunn was a professional dancer and choreographer for the
Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz Arena Football Dance Team. She also held management
positions, "such as assistant stage manager and assistant children's director,
for several Oklahoma City University's American Spirit Dance Company's
performances."
Lunn said his daughter never married
and did not have children, partly he believes because her main focus was her
job and her love of dance.
"Her focus was work, she just
loved doing what she did,'' Lunn said.
Will County Coroner's officials said
an autopsy was expected to be performed at a "later date."
At about 9:40 p.m., the No. 392
Illini train hit the vehicle that was on the tracks at a crossing at Stuenkel
Road in the University Park, Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said last night.
About 155 passengers were riding on
the train, which was stopped while officials cleared the tracks.