Skokie man killed by Metra train in Morton Grove was to marry next day

Updated: July 23, 2012 10:28PM

MORTON GROVE — A 38-year-old Skokie man was rushing to meet the woman he was to marry the next day when he was struck and killed last week by Metra train.

Danny You, of the 1800 block of West Lee Street, on the evening of July 17 was crossing the tracks at 8300 Lehigh Avenue in Morton Grove when he was struck by a northbound commuter train.

“He was super-excited they were going to get married,” said Darin Hanley, a funeral director at Bubb Funeral Home in South Bend, Ind.

Hanley said the couple were supposed to be married the next day, July 18.

Hanley said a representative of the funeral home was in Chicago and talked with You’s fiancee, who said she was on one side of the platform and You was on the other.

You was hit by the train when he tried to cross over to be with her, Hanley said.

“She saw the whole incident,” Hanley said.

A spokesman from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said You died as a result of “multiple injuries” from a “train striking pedestrian accident.”

Metra Police said You was attempting to cross the train tracks where there wasn’t a designated crossing area.

Metra Police on July 23 were still investigating the incident and had not issued a final report, the Metra spokesman stated.

The Metra spokesman said You was trying to cross about a quarter-mile from the Morton Grove Metra station.

You was struck and killed by outbound Milwaukee District North Train No. 2141

The train had left downtown at 5:30 p.m. and was scheduled to arrive in Fox Lake at 7:06 p.m., according to a Metra spokesman.

The accident delayed seven trains anywhere from 18 to 80 minutes and forced Metra to cancel three others, the spokesman said.

Morton Grove Police Cmdr. Paul Yaras said You had apparently left one of the factories in the area and walked across the tracks to catch a ride.

Yaras said he was not at a crossing and apparently did not see the train coming.

“He cut across the tracks and was struck by a northbound train,” Yaras said.

Hanley said his family was from the South Bend, Ind., area and they held a visitation and cemetery service, but chose not to release an obituary.

Phone calls from Pioneer Press to You’s father were not returned.

Show / Hide Comments