Dad dies days after wife and their four children are killed in wrong-way crash on Jane Addams Memorial Tollway

Another child, 13, and the driver of the other car were also killed in the fiery collision early Sunday.

SHARE Dad dies days after wife and their four children are killed in wrong-way crash on Jane Addams Memorial Tollway
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Family and friends of the Dobosz family console one another at a memorial balloon launch on Monday night at Oriole Park.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A Rolling Meadows man has died from injuries he suffered in a wrong-way crash that killed his wife and four children over the weekend.

Thomas Dobosz, 32, was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition after a car headed in the wrong direction on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway collided with his van early Sunday at Anthony Road, near rural Riley, according to the Illinois State Police.

Friends announced Wednesday that Dobosz has died. “We come with a heavy heart today with an update on Tom,” a family friend posted on a GoFundMe page. “Tom has gained his angel wings and is now with his amazing wife Lauren and precious children.”

Lauren Dobosz, 31, and the couple’s four children — Ella, 5; Nicholas, 7; Lucas, 8; and Emma, 13 — died in the crash, according to state police and family friends.

Also killed were Katriona Koziara, a 13-year-old friend of Emma, and the driver of the car, Jennifer Fernandez, 22, of Carpentersville.

The family was on their way to a vacation in Minnesota when Fernandez, driving alone in an Acura, collided with the van in the westbound lanes, state police said.

A GoFundMe page on behalf of Katriona said she had “an undeniable passion and talent for break dancing. She was in the prime of her youth and always seen with a smiling face and positive attitude.”

Lauren Dobosz coached cheerleading and Thomas Dobosz helped the cheer and football teams of the Oriole Park Falcons, and ran concessions and maintained parts of the park.

The Illinois State Police have not released more information on the crash, citing a “very active and ongoing investigation.”

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