Motorcycle Crash Victim Was ’03 GBN Grad

A 2003 graduate passed away Sunday after a motorcycle accident in Vernon Hills.

David E. Field, 26, of Mundelein, was riding on Route 60 at Aspen Drive in Vernon Hills around 8 p.m. when he apparently lost control of his bike, according to Vernon Hills Deputy Police Chief William Price. He was hit by a Kia making a left turn from the four-lane divided highway onto Aspen Drive and was pronounced dead at the scene. Price said he was wearing a helmet at the time.

“Technically, it’s still under investigation,” Price said of the accident. “We don’t have any toxicology reports back yet, but we don’t have any reason to suspect or not suspect anything from that.”

Four to five witnesses whom the police department interviewed all said that the motorcycle was speeding, according to Price.

“It’s safe to say a very high rate of speed,” he added.

Field worked at Hydraforce, a Lincolnshire company that designs and manufactures hydraulic valves, according to a representative from the company’s human resources department. He was set to go to China in the next six weeks to help open a HydraForce facility there, according to coworker Barb DeCesare.

DeCesare said she worked with Field since he joined the company in September 2004. She discovered that he was a senior at Glenbrook North when her twins were freshmen, and said they knew several people in common.

“When I heard the news it saddened me to think that he didn’t even get old enough to attend his 10-year high school reunion,” she said in an e-mail.

“Dave was always full so full of life, and always willing to go the extra mile,” his team leader wrote to the company. “You could say he was going places, it’s a tragedy we’ll never know where those places were.”

Field leaves behind his parents, Robert and Ruth Field, and his sister, Lisa.

A service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 27, at , 1201 Lake Cook Rd in Deerfield. Interment follows at Shalom Memorial Park, 1700 W. Rand Rd in Arlington Heights. A shiva will be held Wednesday after the interment and Thursday and Saturday evening at the home of Ruth Field and Alan Gebel, 166 W. Fox Hill Dr. in Buffalo Grove. Memorial contributions may be made to Broad Shoulders Animal Rescue, P.O. Box 478552, Chicago, IL, 60647.