A freshman Willowbrook High School student who was struck and killed by a freight train in Villa Park over the weekend was remembered by her classmates in many different ways, including a public show of affection after school Feb. 13 at the memorial rock in front of the school's gym
Kristen Teresa Bowen, 14, of the 900 block of East St. Charles Road in Lombard [Illinois], was hit by an eastbound train on the Union Pacific Railroad line at North Terrace Park about 8 p.m. Feb. 11, shortly after she apparently crossed the tracks in front of a westbound coal train, according to police and the DuPage County coroner's office. She was pronounced dead at 9:25 p.m.
The accident, which occurred about a quarter mile west of Addison Road, remains under investigation, according to Lombard Deputy Police Chief Robert Budig.
"To the best of my knowledge, she was a good kid," Budig said.
Bowen, who was an honors level student and part of a group of teenagers in accelerated classes at the Villa Park school, "was one of our own,'' said her honors world history teacher, 28-year veteran instructor Margo Littlehill, noting Bowen attended Jefferson Middle School also in Villa Park and, before that, Schafer School in Lombard.
"It is shocking; as a parent you never want to hear things like this happening," she said Feb. 13 shortly after meeting with friends of the girl and fellow students. "The kids were just talking about her, and it's the kind of things every parent should get to hear. She was well liked and an extremely positive young lady."
Littlehill said Bowen's friends shared how she was always upbeat and came to class smiling.
"For a 14-year-old, she was very non-judgmental. I would not say that about every 14-year-old, but the kids say that about her and that is very telling," added Littlehill, who also is the social studies department chairwoman. "For many of them this is the first time they have experienced death. Some of them simply didn’t think it was real."
She said the classmates remembered well Bowen's portrayal of Dutch scientist Anton von Leeuwenhoek during a week-long Renaissance role-playing exercise last week and were sad when she shared the fictional character would no longer be with them.
Others, she said, remembered Bowen as an avid member of a summer soft- ball league and those who chose to reflect on her quietly were allowed to visit the school's Warrior Room to grieve, meet with crisis intervention Counselors and share their feelings with other students and staff.
Oddly enough, the accident took place not far from where another student of Littlehill's, l4-year-old Jefferson eighth-grader Heather Dickhaut of Villa Park, was struck and killed by a freight train a little more than 18 years earlier, on Feb. 3, 1988.
"I remember her very well." said Littlehill, who noticed the makeshift memorial placed at the scene of the accident Feb. 3 by Dickhaut's family. "I had forgotten that was the (same) Heather ... but these things are always tragic. This truly is an accident and you can't ever prepare for it."
Bowen's funeral services were scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, at Brust Funeral Home, 135 S. Main St., Lombard.
Reprinted with permission from the Lombard Spectator