Posted on 08/16/2007 2:55:09 PM PDT by bcsco
ROCHELLE — While family, friends and collegues struggle to cope with the untimely death of Marian Beguin on Tuesday afternoon, they are also remembering her as a fun-loving individual who cherished her relationships and lived life to the fullest, both personally and professionally.
Beguin, 54, of Rochelle, died Tuesday after the car she was riding in was struck by a semi-truck driver who ran a red light at the intersection of IL Route 38 and Caron Road.
“She was just a warm, loving person with many friends. She touched so many lives. It’s so unfair and she’s going to be sorely missed,” said long-time friend Sharon Duncan, of Rochelle.
According to Rochelle Police, Marian’s daughter, Catherine Beguin, 15, a permit driver, was traveling north on Caron Road in a Honda car at approximately 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday when Angel Fabelo, 52, Cicero, who was traveling west on IL Route 38 in his semi-truck, ran a red light and collided with the passenger side of the car in front of the Holcomb State Bank.
Marian was unconscious when emergency personnel arrived, and she and Katherine were transported to Rochelle Community Hospital. Catherine was treated at RCH for non-life threatening injuries, but Marian was later flown to St. Anthony Hospital in Rockford, where she passed away.
Fabelo was ticketed for disobeying a traffic control signal and was given a future Ogle County Court date. The accident remains under investigation by police.
Marian, who was a long-time elementary school teacher in the Creston and DeKalb districts, was remembered as a dedicated educator by Wright Elementary and Jefferson Elementary officials.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Marian,” said Paul Beilfuss, superintendent of schools. “Marian was a superlative teacher who cared about children, and was very dedicated to their successful educational journey.”
Jefferson principal Merri-lynne Seaburg recalls Beguin as the perfect teacher and person. “The education profession has lost a tremendous professional. Marian was wonderful for her students, and loved teaching kindergarten,” said Seaburg.
Wright Elementary principal, Gina Greenwald, remembers her similarly saying, “Marian made learning fun for her students. She instilled a joy for learning new things in her classroom. We will miss her dearly.”
Locally, Marian was very active in her church and enjoyed many good times with friends and family.
“Marian was a lot of fun – vibrant and colorful and enjoyed life – everybody loved her. We’ve just all lost a very, very special friend,” said Shar Meadows, of Rochelle.
Meadows recalled serving as Marian’s helper at Tres Dias four years ago and how all the activities begin with a bell.
“I’d pick up the phone and hear a cow bell and I knew it was Marian. Normally women use these dainty little bells – but not Marion – she had a cow bell!”
The flag flying at half-mast in honor of Beguin at Wright Elementary School didn’t surprise Meadows.
“She loved teaching kindergarten and all those she touched had nothing but honor and respect for her,” Meadows said. “She used to say that kindergarten was the only grade she could teach, that they were the only ones who understood her and were on her level. If you knew Marian you had nothing but fond memories of her.”
Funeral services for Marion Beguin will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Rochelle. Visitation will be held on Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Unger-Horner Funeral Home. A full obituary appears on page 2.
His name sounds hispanic, but could be something else. If he is hispanic, then I'd be curious about his legal status. Anyway, this is very sad and I am very sorry for her family and friends.
As we all are. My wife passed this just after it happened. She was pretty upset when she arrived home. As to the nationality of the driver, I've heard nothing, but that's essentially why I posted this. The local paper won't bury it if it turns out he's illegal. There should be more to come in any case.
Illegals are taking many of the truck driving jobs, for less money than American drivers. Their immigration status isn’t the only thing that’s illegal. They don’t bother with insurance, safe equipment, or driver’s licenses. They’re driving rates down, while expenses continue to climb. As legal tax paying drivers are forced out of business, states increase taxes to make up the difference, forcing more drivers out of business. The illegals don’t practice safe driving habits, because they know they won’t have to pay for any damage they do.
Interesting points. While we don’t know the exact situation with this, I wanted to get the story out there should it evolve into a more sinister issue. At least it’s something to refer back to should that happen.
FWIW, truck drivers kill 27 Americans every day.
Welcome to FR.
Do you have a source for that accusation?
This is Google's take: "Traffic accidents involving large trucks are responsible for one out of eight (12.5 percent) traffic fatalities nationally."
http://www.oakhurstchamber.com/news/01-06/e_article000239686.htm
That source shows my numbers are conservative, as trucks killed 370 people in just California per year. (How many were Americans in California, I don't know).
Thanks for that URL. Btw, that wasn’t google’s take. That was The California Chamber of Commerce’s report. And it shows that your accusation is false.
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http://www.oakhurstchamber.com/news/01-06/e_article000239686.htm
-snip-
In California, 370 people die every year in traffic accidents INVOLVING large trucks.
-snip-
Nearly three-quarters of those fatal crashes were CAUSED BY PASSENGER VEHICLE DRIVER ERROR, NOT BY THE TRUCK DRIVER.
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Please forgive my unorthodox formatting. Html is difficult on this cell phone, so I didn’t use it this time. I used all caps to draw attention to some parts. I may have made typos, as I cannot copy/paste.
So when someone causes a traffic fatality involving a truck driven by an innocent truck driver, it’s the truck driver’s fault? Please explain that logic.
"A recent AAA study found that of the 5,750 deaths involving trucks that approximately 75% of these were the fault of the automobile driver and not the truck driver."
Twenty-five percent (the remainder) is a lot of deaths attributed to the truck driver.
75% > 25%. Ask any mathematician.
Your false accusation that all of the fatalities were the fault of the truck drivers wasn’t even close. Truck drivers not only do not cause 100% of the fatalies, they don’t even cause the majority of them. They don’t even cause close to the majority. Not even close to half. The vast majority of accidents involving trucks are caused by the other driver, NOT THE TRUCK DRIVER. What part of that do you fail to understand? How are you able to interpret the fact that the vast majority of the fatalities were not caused by the truck driver to mean that the majority of the fatalities were caused by the truck driver? That’s 180 degrees from the truth. Again, check with a mathematician.
Take it up with Barry Farber. I’m just the messenger.
You’re the one who made the claim. Now you’re telling me it was all a quote from Barry Farber?
Post 8.
You lied about what your source said.
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