Community rallies in memory of Taylor Skendziel
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
With the summer sun still bright, a handful of red balloons drifted slowly into the evening sky Saturday.
Minutes earlier, friends and family of Taylor Skendziel circled around members of the Union Grove High School softball team as they began a slow chant.
“36.”
“36.”
“36.”
Over and over, with the audience joining in a show of solidarity, the public show of grief over Skendziel’s death slipped into the night.
Skendziel, 17, died June 16 after being critically injured the day before in a two-vehicle crash at the town line between Raymond and Yorkville.
Skendziel and two junior varsity teammates, Sadie Regep and Charlee Warner, were on their way to the end-of-the-season banquet at Union Grove Union High School at about 6 p.m. June 15 when an SUV driven by Samuel Han, 58, of Kenosha, allegedly blew through a stop sign on 2 Mile Road.
He collided with Skendziel’s car on the driver’s side. She had to be extricated from the vehicle and was taken by Flight for Life to Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa, where she later died.
Regep and Warner both survived with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to Racine County Sheriff’s officials. Both were at Thursday night’s vigil, each with an arm casted, cuts and bruises evident from the crash.
The crash
Bruce Botcher’s home at 2938 Raymond Avenue (also known as 2 Mile Road) sits on the corner of the two roads where the crash occurred. Over the years, vehicles from three different collisions have landed in his yard.
Last week’s was by far the worst. Botcher was sitting down to dinner with his wife when he heard a loud noise.
“We ran to the door, and saw the two vehicles in our yard,” he said.
One of the two passengers already tried to get out of the car, and Botcher said he and his wife made her lie down. They then helped the other passenger out.
Skendziel was unconscious when they found her, and they could not remove her from the vehicle.
Botcher indicated that about two feet of the driver’s side had been pushed in on the vehicle. After being extricated from the car and stabilized by rescue personnel, Flight for Life helicopter took Skendziel to Froedtert.
Meanwhile, Botcher said, Han expressed concern that the crash was his fault.
“He kept saying, ‘What have I done? What have I done?’”
Authorities are reportedly considering charges in the crash.
About Taylor
A look at Skendziel’s Facebook page makes it clear she loved softball.
“It was her passion,” said Deb Redell, the family’s spokeswoman over the past week.
“She played summer league, she played travel ball,” she said. “Any time Taylor could play softball, she played softball.”
Skendziel also was involved in volleyball, but Redell joked, “that was just to keep her in shape for softball.”
Going into her junior year this coming fall, Skendziel had her sights set on the Union Grove varsity. The Broncos varsity squad spent a large part of this season ranked No. 1 in the state and made it to the WIAA Division 1 state semifinals before bowing out.
“She was all set to move up,” Redell said.
But in addition to softball, Skendziel loved working with children.
“She was a magnet,” Redell said. “They just came to her.”
Her nephew, Julius, and Skendziel were “inseparable,” Redell said.
Skendziel was taking classes to become a certified nursing assistant, with plans on becoming a nurse – specifically, a neonatal nurse.
“That was her first step towards it,” Redell explained.
Moving forward
The vigil Saturday offered friends and family, rescue, fire and emergency personnel a chance to receive and offer support in a large group.
“Acknowledging, or starting closure,” Redell said. “It’s been a long, drawn-out process. It’s been devastating.”
There will be more opportunities this week. The visitation will be Friday at Union Grove Union High School, from 3 to 7 p.m. in the fieldhouse.
On Saturday, from 10:30 a.m. to noon, there will also be visitation, with a service to follow. There will then be a procession to the cemetery for burial.
Taylor’s parents, Glenn and Michelle, have asked players who played with her or against, coached her, knew of her or were involved in Girl Scouts to wear their uniforms to Friday’s and Saturday’s visitations and services.
Redell said that effort will help show the camaraderie and teamwork Taylor Skendziel promoted.
“This is a kid you never saw without a smile on her face,” Redell said. “Now, helping people start to find closure, is what we need to do,” Redell said.
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