An 85-year-old child psychiatrist walking across a downtown Chicago street was killed Friday when she was struck by a charter bus carrying children on a Catholic school day trip from Indiana, police said.
Dr. Elisabeth Lassers of Hyde Park, who still practiced part-time according to neighbors and family, was pronounced dead at 9:45 a.m. at Columbus Drive and North Water Street, said Chicago Police Sgt. Maurice McCaster.
The bus driver was stopped at the intersection and was about to make a right turn north onto Columbus Drive, McCaster said. When the light changed, the driver began to turn and the woman walked in front of him.
Lassers, who was featured in a 2003 Tribune series in the Woman News section on aging, had lived in her Hyde Park townhouse for about 45 years, said her nephew, Harold Lassers. Her husband, former Cook County Judge Willard J. Lassers, died in 1997. Lassers said his aunt was preparing to have her yearly Seder, which she had hosted for nearly 50 years, on April 23.
“She was a person who had unbelievable energy and curiosity and was driven to keep moving and keep giving,” he said. “She was a fantastic person.”
He said that Lassers’ daughter, Kippi, was coming back to Chicago from Portland, Ore., to make funeral arrangements.
In the Tribune article in 2003, Lassers said she consulted weekly in Hull House’s foster care program. Several years ago she moved out of her downtown office, but was still seeing long-term patients, the nephew said.
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After the accident, the bus driver, Wellington Everett, 65, required medical attention at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He was treated for high blood pressure and released.
Everett said Lassers walked in front of the bus and he did not see her. He was ticketed for striking a pedestrian in the roadway and is expected to appear in Traffic Court June 2. No other charges are expected.
“I’m very upset, I’m emotionally drained right now,” Everett said from a cell phone as he drove with a companion back to his home. “My deepest sympathies and my apologies go to the family.”
The bus brought about 35 people, which included children and chaperons, from St. Michael Catholic School in Brookville, Ind., to Chicago for a field trip to several local museums.
Everett had been driving charter buses for more than 10 years since retiring from a local General Motors factory. He was driving for Miller Transportation Inc. in Indianapolis, his wife, Wheatie Everett, said.
Kathy Duenas, volunteer coordinator at the Oriental Institute, called Lassers, a volunteer docent, an inspiration. She had recently returned from a trip to Antarctica, Duenas said.
Lassers had served as a docent for several years and was a regular every Thursday.
“She was just so full of life,” said Duenas.”I can’t imagine her not walking in here next Thursday asking, `Ok, where do you want me to start.”‘