NORWOOD PARK — Taft High School teachers and students Monday mourned the death of a longtime teacher killed in a chain-reaction crash after helping a woman and her 4-year-old daughter to safety.
Teachers and students planned to gather in the Norwood Park school's auditorium after school to grieve the death of Jeff Komada, 54, of Des Plaines, who taught math at Taft for 30 years and was the school's director of technology.
Principal Mark Grishaber said Komada's death was a "tremendous loss" for the school.
The chain-reaction crash began around 10 a.m. Saturday when a Ford Windstar minivan stalled in traffic on a rain-slicked Interstate 294 near Touhy Avenue, according to a statement from the Illinois State Police, which patrols the tollway.
Komada, who was driving a Honda CRV, rear-ended the minivan. Komada's CRV was hit by a Volkswagen car driven by a 38-year-old woman who had her 4-year-old daughter in the vehicle with her.
After Komada moved the woman and her daughter into his CRV for safety, all three vehicles were struck by a semi-trailer truck. Komada, who was outside of his car, was seriously injured, and died about an hour later after being taken to the hospital, officials said.
"Jeff [Komada] died doing what he loved and did so often — helping others," said Trent Eaton, Taft's webmaster.
While the investigation is continuing, no one has been cited in connection with the crash, state police officials said Monday.
Komada was named one of the school's "Educators of the Year" in 2015, and was named the Teacher of the Month in November 2014 for routinely completing "the work of three people," Grishaber said.
Ald. John Arena (45th), whose ward includes the school's attendance boundaries, said he was "deeply saddened" to learn of Komada's death.
Funeral arrangements for Komada are pending, Grishaber said.
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