Lindner Brothers Meet at Site of Parents' Death One Year Later

Rob Lindner doesn't have much space left on his walls.

Over the past year, he and his brother Matt have cleaned out their parents' house and office. Burt and Zorine Lindner were killed last Fourth of July when a train derailment along the Union Pacific freight line caused a bridge to collapse in Northbrook.

Now, much of the artwork and pictures Burt and Zorine kept in their home and office now adorns the homes of their two sons.

"Your house isn't big enough to create a whole memory gallery for your parents," Rob said. "Luckily, my parents taste and mine are pretty similar."

The brothers spoke from the scene of their parents' deaths on Tuesday. A year later, they said the Fourth of July will never be the same.

"You see Fourth of July everywhere you look, and it's tricky because for us it has such a different meaning than for the rest of the world," Rob said. 

The brothers talked to reporters on Tuesday about how close their parents were with the rest of their family, and how impossible it will be to replace the support they offered their relatives. Three generations of family often hung out together, going on camping trips to Starved Rock on Mother's Day and attending graduation and award ceremonies for grandchildren.

"When you have two supporting parents… to have both of them taken away at the same time and then suddenly have to deal with everything is very, very hard," Rob said. "My parents were kind of the glue within the whole family."

What's making the grieving even more difficult is the slow pace in which the Federal Railroad Administration has been investigating the derailment. The agency told the brothers they would have a report for them within months of the incident, but a year later and they still haven't even begun taking testimonies from witnesses, according to Rob.

"The railroad is slowing down everything as much as they can," Rob said. "It just doesn't smell right."

What has helped the brothers grieve has been the overwhelming support from the Glenview, Northbrook and Deerfield communities. Teachers at the school Zorine taught at will still come up to Rob and Matt to tell them about the impact their mother had on their lives.

"it's really a very warm community around here," Rob said. "Northbrook and Glenview are pretty big now, but the community is still pretty tight and supportive."