Pray for the Whittingham Family

I was very sad to hear that a girl who graduated from Marian Catholic High School in 2002 was hit by a car this past Friday night. She passed away just a day later. I did not personally know Lyndsey Whittingham, but her older brother Kevin was in my grade. Kevin and his wife Colleen were in some of my classes in high school and were part of the Kairos program I was involved in. My dad lives in the same town as The Whittingham's. They are such good people. Please keep them in your prayers.

October 31, 2006
By Steve Schmadeke Staff writer

Out Friday night with a group of college friends, Lyndsey Whittingham was about to step into a stopped cab when a second taxi struck her about 30 minutes past midnight.

As word of the accident spread, dozens of the 23-year-old Frankfort woman's family and friends gathered in a waiting room outside the ICU at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

But a day later, her family knew Whittingham would not recover.

She was pronounced dead at 12:44 a.m. Sunday.

"I feel so cheated," said Colleen Curtis, her college roommate and now a law student at St. Louis University. "It makes me sick. I just feel like there were so many things we were going to do together -- we were going to travel and be in each other's weddings."

A 2002 Marian Catholic High School graduate, Whittingham wanted to be a dentist, just like her father.

Holly Griffin, president of the Marian Catholic Mothers' Club, recalled watching Lyndsey and her dad.

"You could just see there was a special bond that she and her father shared," she said.

Whittingham's family respected their daughter's wish to donate her organs. She was being kept on life support Monday morning.

"That would be like them to find a way to do some good from this," said Mayor Jim Holland, who knows the family. "The whole community's thoughts are with them."

The accident took place on the North Side, in the 2500 block of North Ashland Avenue. The taxi driver who struck Whittingham was cited for driving too fast for conditions and failing to exercise due care for a pedestrian in the roadway, according to police.

Her friends are devastated that the energetic and kind woman they knew is gone.

When the Monday morning announcements were made over the PA system at Marian Catholic, Sister Mary Paul McCaughey also asked students and faculty to pray for the Whittingham family.

"Almost everybody here knew her and loved her," said Sister McCaughey, the school's president. Whittingham was a varsity cheerleader at Marian Catholic. "She just was darling, just peppy and energetic, always kind to people."

In May, she earned a biology degree from John Carroll University.

After her first year at John Carroll, Curtis drew Whittingham as a roommate.

"It ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me," Curtis said.

The two ate lunch together in the cafeteria and went to Quinn's, a local pub, on weekends.

A spokeswoman from John Carroll University said the school would hold a memorial service for Whittingham later this week.

Whittingham was applying to dental school, said family friend Bernie Krause. She lived with her folks while working as a sales rep for Fisher Scientific.

Her father, Ray, is a practicing dentist in Frankfort. The Southtown could not reach him or his wife, Betsy, Monday.

Ashley Pyle grew up across the street from "Lynz" and cheered with her on their high school squad. The two met at age 5 and delighted in diving together to the bottom of the Prestwick Country Club pool.

"She was always the light-hearted one," Pyle said.

As adults, they would take long drives on country roads south and west of Frankfort, talking nonstop along the way. Pyle is now a University of Maryland law student.

"She was the best listener in the world," Pyle said.

In addition to her parents, Whittingham is survived by her two older brothers Joe and Kevin and their wives, Ana and Colleen.

Funeral arrangements are pending, but the wake is expected to be Friday, followed by a funeral Saturday.