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Grandfather Killed In Crash After Dropping Off Grandchildren

November 18, 2005

Leonard R. Oates was killed in a car accident Sunday evening just after he dropped 5-year-old Mackenzie and 3-year-old Landon off at their home on the 500 block of Grace Drive in Lake in the Hills. Oates was headed back to his own house around the corner when the accident happened at about 5:51 p.m. at Pyott Road and Willow Street.

Oates was driving west on Willow in his 2001 Chevrolet Impala when he turned left to go south on Pyott. He was struck broadside by a 1997 Chevrolet pickup truck headed north on Pyott, Lake in the Hills police said. Crews from the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Fire Department had to extricate Oates from his car, Assistant Fire Chief John Gaughan said. Oates was taken to Sherman Hospital in Elgin, where he was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m., according to the Kane County coroner's office. An autopsy found the preliminary cause of death to be blunt chest trauma.

The two people in the pickup truck - driver Brian R. Marone, 22, of Crystal Lake and his passenger, Ashley N. Rood, 19, of Carpentersville - were treated for injuries at the scene of the accident. No tickets had been issued as of Monday, as police continued to investigate.

The 72-year-old Lake in the Hills man was 'very family- oriented,' said his daughter-in-law, Vicki Oates. 'He loved being with his kids and his grandkids.' Vicki Oates said her father-in-law's death was overwhelming. 'It was so unexpected,' she said. 'He had a heart condition, and that's kind of what everyone thought would take him.' Spending time with his 15 grandchildren 'was his reason for being,' Vicki Oates said. 'If the kids had a play, football game or whatever, he was always there,' she said. Vicki Oates' daughter, Rachel Goodrich, 18, said her step- grandfather was loving, caring and a 'big jokester.' 'You'd talk to him, and he'd always brighten your day,' Goodrich said.