Jim Wentz was my very first friend in life. Our families lived next door to each other from when we were 3 years of age. He was kind, smart, and good pal - and I have not and will not ever forget him. Ronnie Olsen moved to neighborhood a few years later. Words for Ronnie would be gentle, kind, quiet, a nice good person. Jim and Ronnie died together (with others) in a tragic car accident at the site of what is now the entrance to Mundelein High School. They will always be remembered with great fondness!
I knew Jimmy and Ron and Colin for as long as I have memory. I grew up with them, played every day with them, and we were all inseparable. The death of two of my best friends in a car crash was devastating to the neighborhood, and especially to Colin ( Butch) and myself. I was supposed to be in the car with them, and had I not been feeling punky, well... Jimmy was the quietest of the group, but he had a certain inner strength. Ronnie was a very thoughtful, funny, person that everyone wanted to call friend. I remember going fishing early one morning with Jimmy at Diamond Lake. It was a wonderful time and a peaceful memory of my friend. I have never forgotten the two, and Dave Lenz, another friend and neighbor who died in that crash. It was at the time of Mundelein Days, but there was no fun that year...They all lived around the park in Lakewood Heights.
Colin McRae
Jim Wentz was my very first friend in life. Our families lived next door to each other from when we were 3 years of age. He was kind, smart, and good pal - and I have not and will not ever forget him. Ronnie Olsen moved to neighborhood a few years later. Words for Ronnie would be gentle, kind, quiet, a nice good person. Jim and Ronnie died together (with others) in a tragic car accident at the site of what is now the entrance to Mundelein High School. They will always be remembered with great fondness!
George Simonis
I knew Jimmy and Ron and Colin for as long as I have memory. I grew up with them, played every day with them, and we were all inseparable. The death of two of my best friends in a car crash was devastating to the neighborhood, and especially to Colin ( Butch) and myself. I was supposed to be in the car with them, and had I not been feeling punky, well... Jimmy was the quietest of the group, but he had a certain inner strength. Ronnie was a very thoughtful, funny, person that everyone wanted to call friend. I remember going fishing early one morning with Jimmy at Diamond Lake. It was a wonderful time and a peaceful memory of my friend. I have never forgotten the two, and Dave Lenz, another friend and neighbor who died in that crash. It was at the time of Mundelein Days, but there was no fun that year...They all lived around the park in Lakewood Heights.