Tomassino “Tommy” Offer, a freshman baseball player at Division III Wheaton College, is dead after his car was struck by a freight train shortly after he left church on Sunday, October 11. He was 18.
“Our team is grieving and our hearts are heavy as we grieve alongside Tommy’s family and friends,” Wheaton coach Matt Husted said in a statement shared on the school’s athletics website. “This is a difficult time for us all; however, we have peace in knowing he was strong in his faith and that Christ is with him and those close to him.”
Husted continued, “Tommy was sincere in all aspects of his life. He was joyful, but a competitor – all qualities that made him a great teammate.”
The accident, which remains under investigation, occurred when he stopped his car in front of railroad tracks in Wheaton, Illinois, to make way for a westbound train. After the train cleared the intersection, Offer began to cross the tracks, only to be struck by a train coming from the other direction.
Reverend Santos Castillo of St. Michael Catholic Church spoke with Offer that morning and said the college student was on his way to Chicago with a friend, according to the New York Post.
“He was really interested in other people and showed them that they were important to him,” Husted added. “He really connected with people in the Wheaton community beyond baseball. He had a large network of people on campus.”
An obituary shared by Offer’s family echoed Husted’s sentiment.
“He was a young man who loved people and made it his goal to befriend his fellow classmates,” it read.
Offer’s high school, Notre Dame Preparatory School in Pontiac, Michigan, remembered him as, “an outstanding student and an even better young man. He was loved by his teachers and classmates and had many friends, including his soccer teammates with whom he won a state championship, and his baseball teammates.”
Offer’s friends also shared their memories of him in the tribute section of his obituary page.
“Tommy, you were such a good friend to me, and I will forever be grateful that I got to know you,” Alana O’Brien wrote. “I’m so thankful we had drivers training together because from the very beginning, you welcomed me with such a warm heart and never failed to put a smile on my face. Whenever you knew I was having a bad day, you always found a way to make me laugh, and that is something I will always cherish about you.”
O’Brien continued, “I will forever hold onto all the memories we made, from going out to dinner as a group and hanging out together to all the drives we shared. One memory I will never forget is you sitting in the backseat while I was taking my driving test, constantly making me laugh, even when I was supposed to be concentrating. It’s the little moments like those that I will cherish forever, and I wish I could go back and experience them all over again.”
