Chism death under investigation
By Nate Bloomquist
Apache Editor
At press time, the investigation of the death 20-year-old IVCC sophomore Sean Chism was still ongoing. The investigation is being conducted by the Peru Police and the La Salle County Coroners office.
He died Oct. 29, 2000 in his Peru home. Police received a 911 call from his roommate at 6:34 p.m. Sunday stating that Chism was unconscious and not breathing. Police were unable to revive Chism who was pronounced dead at the scene by La Salle County coroners office.
An autopsy was performed along with toxicology tests. The autopsy was inconclusive, and at press time, results from the toxicology reports were not yet available. The test is conducted to determine the exact cause of death.
Services for Chism were at 11 a.m. Nov. 2 at St. Cecilia Church in Mount Prospect. He was a 1998 graduate of Rolling Meadows High School and the son Doyle M. Lorraine T. (nee Gallat) Chism of Arlington Heights; brother of Doyle J. (Esther) Chism of Rolling Meadows, Quinn R. Chism of Arlington Heights and Christine M. (Jeff) Valentino of Rolling Meadows.
Chism attended Northern Illinois University during the first semester of his freshman year and Harper Community College in the second. Chism came to IVCC last year and played baseball for the Apaches in the spring.
Head baseball coach Bob Koopman is a friend of the Chism family. Initially, he knew Sean through coaching his brother, Quinn.
“He was energetic,” said Koopman. “You knew when he was in the room, he was loud and he wanted to make people laugh.”
Friends and teammates of Chism have the same impression of him.
“I didn’t really know him that well; but I remember him,” said Melissa Rose. “He was the happy-go-lucky kind of guy. He was always making people laugh.”
“He was hilarious. He was the team jokester,” said teammate and sophomore Joe Sester. “ I guess you could say he kept the party going.”
As a freshman on the IVCC squad, Chism, an outfielder, had an even .400 batting average. Koopman said it took Chism a lot of persistence to get there.
“He had that goal set from the beginning,” recalled Koopman. “He went on a slump and then came back. Then when it came down to the last at bat he was 39-for-99. He got the hit to put him at an even .400.”
Chism was buried in his baseball uniform.
This year, Chism was charged with a DUI on Oct. 8. He was suspended from the team because of the infraction. Koopman said it doesn’t matter what the results from the toxicology reports reveal.
“When I was up at the services for him I was talking to a lot of his family and people who knew him,” he said. “To me and I think everyone else it’s not going to matter what the results are. It’s not going to bring him back; it doesn’t matter if his death was accidental or if he did it himself.”
“We’re trying to move on. I’m worried about the other baseball players; it’s really hard on all of us. We’ve just got to try and remember all the good things about him.”
A complete obituary and a guest book for expressing sympathies to the family is available at www.legacy.com.