Bicycle Diaries: Rolling on the pastor's grave

Recent Posts

8.9.07

Rolling on the pastor's grave

"If you needed him
he was right there for you"


Two days ago I posted about near-death experiences on my daily commute. I shouldn't complain: last Tuesday, a local pastor and avid biker wasn't so lucky. The Chicago Tribune reports:
The pastor of a Ukrainian Catholic church on Chicago's Northwest Side died Tuesday after his bicycle collided with a sport-utility vehicle in Des Plaines, police said. Police said Rev. Pavlo Hayda, 42, was riding a bicycle eastbound in the 1900 block of East Oakton Street about 11 a.m. when he collided with an SUV leaving an apartment complex.

Hayda, the pastor of St. Joseph Ukrainian Catholic Church, 5000 N. Cumberland Ave., died of his injuries about 12:30 p.m. in Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, said Des Plaines Deputy Police Chief Bill Schneider.

"We're going through a bit of a shock right now," said Very Rev. Canon Thomas Glynn, an associate pastor at St. Joseph.

The driver of the SUV, Edward Strabel of the 1900 block of East Oakton Street, was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and failure to exercise due caution, police said.

Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune

Labels: , ,

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm glad to have a forum to share some thoughts on Pavlo. First, may he rest in peace. Having known him a long time ago, there is nothing surprising about his calling to be a priest. The crazy thing is that with so few priests overall, I wonder why one of the good ones had to be taken so early.

I regret was not making a more concerted effort to look Pavlo up when I used to travel to Chicago on a regular basis, even though it crossed my mind on pretty much every trip--a lesson learned for the future. I guess what further strikes a discordant note it that I returned home from a trans-US cycling trip a few days before Pavlo's accident. Having spent the summer on a bicycle further highlighted how vulnerable all of us are.

Vichnaya pamyat'

24/9/07 12:59  

Post a Comment

<< Home