Art student Caroline Witt was nearly finished making a vase for her older brother and had fashioned a tropical blue fish, which was curing in the class kiln.
But she wouldn’t live to see the artworks completed. The 22-year-old woman was killed, allegedly by a former boyfriend.
“She worked tremendously hard on that (the vase),” said Susan Gallaway, an art instructor at McHenry County College, where Witt had been a student. “She worked harder on that knowing it was for her brother than if she had been working on it just for a grade.”
Gallaway and Witt’s mother, Diane, finished the vase according to how Caroline had described it to a classmate just before she was slain Oct. 17.
The vase, porcelain white with green swirls, was showcased for the public last week at the college, along with several other pieces of Witt’s artwork.
“Caroline was an excellent student,” said Lynn Lourie, art department chairman and one of her instructors. “She really had talent, extreme talent.”
Witt, who had planned to pursue a degree in special education and combine art with teaching, was killed when Kristoffer Wendt smashed his car into hers after a chance encounter with her and her new boyfriend, police said. Days before her death, Witt reportedly told police Wendt had been stalking her, authorities said.
Wendt, 20, of Crystal Lake, was indicted in November on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated battery for allegedly punching Witt’s new boyfriend.
In memory of her daughter, Diane Witt is establishing an art scholarship at McHenry College.
Those who knew Caroline Witt described her as a compassionate, hard-working and sincere, someone who was always smiling and making friends. She enjoyed sports and spending time with friends.
But the true expression of herself can best be seen in her artwork, from the painting of the girl with long red stockings she did for her mother to the commissioned work she did for others and the antique bedroom set she refinished for herself.
“Caroline had a lot of talent and potential, and that potential will never be realized because of her premature death, her murder,” Diane Witt said. “One doesn’t have to be 60 (years old) to leave behind a legacy. . . . You can do it very young.”
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