On the anniversary of their parents’ horrific death, sisters Melody Smith and Kim Jockl head out to the chapel at O’Hare International Airport, or to a trailer park near the crash site of American Airlines Flight 191.
But next year they’ll be able to visit a memorial to the victims of that May 1979 crash, which is planned for Lake Park in Des Plaines, near the corner of Touhy Avenue and Lee Street.
“Honestly, I never thought it would happen in my lifetime,” said Smith, 64, of Arlington Heights. “I knew how hard it was for my sister and I to get a memorial service for the 25th anniversary.”
It took the two siblings over a year to track down families, organize a memorial service and get approval to visit the crash site on the 25th anniversary of the accident.
The memorial, a 2-foot concave-shaped stone wall engraved with the names of the 273 victims, will be unveiled at 11 a.m. Oct. 15. A red maple tree and other plants will decorate the area, which is near Lake Opeka.
The wall will span about 70 feet, with two columns at each end, said Brent Johnson, of NILCO Inc., who is the landscape architect for the project. He estimated it would be another month before the wall is placed in Lake Park.
The project may have never come to fruition, however, without the persistence and hard work of a group of Chicago students.
A sixth-grade class from Decatur Classical School on the north side of Chicago made it their mission two years ago to build the monument when they saw Jockl, their assistant principal, interviewed on TV for the 30th anniversary of the accident.
With its left engine missing, American Airlines Flight 191 went into a steep roll, then crashed in a burst of flames less than a mile away from the runway. This photo was taken by Michael Laughlin, 24, student pilot who was on a layover in the O'Hare terminal when he witnessed the tragedy. (Photo copyrighted to Chicago Tribune)
Jockl and Smith’s parents, Corrinne and Bill Borchers, were headed to Hawaii on a second honeymoon.
Shortly after taking-off from O’Hare, the Los Angeles-bound plane crashed in a field near Touhy Avenue and Mount Prospect Road. Everyone inside the aircraft and two people on the ground died.
After seeing the newscast, the students realized it wasn’t right there wasn’t a memorial and they delved into research, said Beth Allegretti and Marianne Sharping, the teachers who oversaw the class project.
Along with submitting their work to the Constitutional Rights Foundation, the class contacted U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Evanston, and Sen. Dan Kotowski, D-Park Ridge, who both helped find funding and a location for the memorial.
American Airlines is funding $21,500 for the project, organizers said, but a spokeswoman for the company declined to comment.
The Des Plaines Park District was happy to get involved, especially since the director of the Illinois Association of Park Districts died on that flight, said John Hecker, executive director of the Des Plaines Park District.
Organizers combed through death certificates, obituaries, lawsuits and news reports to ensure the names of the victims were correct, said Janie Morrison, the district director for Kotowski.
Once school begins next month, students will send out invitations to the ceremony. The original class has now moved on to other schools, though organizers said they plan on attending the dedication ceremony.
“There are thousands of stories around this flight,” said Jockl, 55. “This way there will be one place you can go and sit and honor someone you love. And also connect by chance at the site with someone who shares a moment in time with you…and that’s really important.”
