CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — Family and friends are coming together to mourn a life taken too soon after a train accident over the weekend.
The Champaign County Sheriff’s Office reported that an incident took place on Sunday night near Leverett Road in Champaign. An Amtrak train traveling north collided with a car, which subsequently ignited in flames.
Now, two days later, close family friends hosted an event to comfort those who knew 34-year-old Kyle Clevenger.
Hundreds gathered at Douglass Park Tuesday night, all to make sure that Clevenger’s family knows he’s loved and not forgotten.
“To see that they remember us and they’re reaching out to us and they loved him,” Kyle’s dad Wayne Clevenger said. “It’s overwhelming.”
Wayne said the Champaign County Coroner hasn’t yet identified his son as the victim in the crash, but all signs point to it being Kyle.
“When we got word of the accident, it was really traumatic for us,” Wayne said.
Many people — including former coaches, teammates and more — gathered at one of the last places he visited before he died.
Wayne said his son’s biggest love was sports, and that he played both football and basketball for Urbana before choosing to focus on hoops.
“His enthusiasm was genuine,” Wayne mentioned. “That’s why I wear football gear because he spent so many years playing, and the kids adored him. Others are sporting basketball attire since that was his next pursuit.”
After playing for the University of Illinois Springfield and Lincoln College, Wayne said Kyle ended up back in Champaign.
“To anyone he interacted with, he would emphasize, his main message was to persevere and do well,” Wayne stated. “And if you were his friend, he’d consistently check in on you, ensuring that you were alright.”
The same was true for family, especially his younger siblings.
“Whenever anything occurred, his immediate question would be, where’s Chris?” Wayne recalled, “Where’s Tory? Where’s Ben? And he consistently inquired, Are they okay?”
On Tuesday night, they gathered to bid him farewell by releasing over 300 orange and black balloons in honor of the Urbana alumnus, all generously donated for the memorial event.
“It really gets me right here, and I just I’m glad to be here so we can just do a lot of hugging and reunite,” Wayne said.
The Champaign County Coroner said an autopsy has been scheduled.
