TRIBUTES ARE BEING paid to the victims of Monday evening’s fatal car crash in Co Wexford. The four people who died were all members of an Illinois-based family, who were in the area for the funeral of a relative.
Doug Alexander, his wife Lily and their sons Steve and Doug were killed when a truck collided with their car on the N25 near New Ross on Monday evening.
49-year-old Steve Alexander was a police officer in Bollingbrook, near Chicago, where he was twice nominated as Police Officer of the Year.
“Steve was a proud father who left behind two daughters, age 11 and 10, who were his pride and joy,” a statement from the Bollingbrook Police Department said.
He also received a Life Saving Award in 2013 and taught self-defence and self-confidence skills to women and girl scouts.
According to the statement:
Steve was a member of ‘Beat the Heat’ a non-profit organisation which focused on community outreach to improve driver safety and police community relations. He also enjoyed racing his vintage Camaro drag racing car and talking to children about vehicle and driving safety.
Steve recently hosted and organised a Squad Car Night at the Bolingbrook Promenade in partnership with the Illinois Special Olympics which attracted police vehicles from all over the state. The event was concluded with a ‘parade of lights’; a vehicle procession through the main street of the Promenade.
Director of the police department Ken Teppel said:
“Steve was an exemplary officer who took great pride in his law enforcement career and who devoted himself to protecting and serving the citizens of Bolingbrook.
Steve will be missed by all those who had the pleasure of knowing him and we will forever keep the Alexander family in our thoughts and our prayers.
Doug and Lily, who were aged in their mid-70s, were remembered by the community in the Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn as great neighbours, the Chicago Tribune reported.
“We’re just all in shock,” one neighbour told the paper. “We’ll really miss them.”
A neighbour of Lily and her husband said the couple often went to Ireland to visit her sister, Winnie Keevey, who died last week.
Local Wexford councillor John Fleming said that the entire community wished to extend its sympathies to the friends and relatives of those who died.
Another councillor, Micheal Sheehan, said the community was “in shock” at what had happened.
Road conditions at the time would have been unremarkable, Sheehan said – but the road would have been busy with commuters. He said there were roadworks taking place in the area – but not in the immediate area surrounding the crash.
The driver and passenger in the lorry were uninjured in the collision. Forensic tests were carried out at the scene yesterday.
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