The 43-year-old man who was fatally shot last week while driving a truck on Interstate 88 in Oak Brook was remembered as hardworking, active in his church and having a big smile.
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Eduardo Munoz was shot about 4:05 p.m. Friday while driving east on I-88, Illinois State Police said. His fiancee, Michele Salerno, said Munoz was on his way to Northlake, where he grew up and still lived, after being on the road during the week.
State police Tuesday had no updated information to provide on Munoz’s death. The DuPage County coroner’s office confirmed Munoz was pronounced dead at 5:39 p.m. Friday at Elmhurst Hospital.
Police on Friday said Munoz was driving a red 2007 Volvo semitrailer when someone in another vehicle heading in the same direction shot at the truck, hitting him. Munoz managed to pull off the road onto the shoulder at milepost 138.5, just west of York Road.
State police said Munoz was from Sunshine, Fla. Salerno said Munoz had a commercial driver’s license in Florida and was on the road most weekdays, but lived in Northlake.
Salerno said she met Munoz in fifth grade when they both attended Roy Elementary School in Northlake. Their lives had taken different paths, but they were finally starting the process of shopping for rings and planning a wedding, she said.
“We’ve been together for a long time. We were just talking, looking for rings, planning, finally getting at a point in our lives where we can enjoy ourselves, and this is what happens,” Salerno said. “We had a lot of plans.”
Munoz attended West Leyden High School and had three adult children, a granddaughter and a grandson on the way, Salerno said.
Munoz was an active member of U-Turn Covenant Church in Northlake, the Rev. Larry Perez said. The Saturday before Easter, Munoz volunteered at a community outreach during which church members served over 700 people a meal and held an egg hunt, Perez said.
“He was a family man, hardworking, and he loved serving,” Perez said.
Perez said he had known Munoz through the church for about five years, and Munoz had become more involved in the past two years. Last year, Munoz donated bicycles to children, he said.
The pastor called Munoz’s death “devastating.”
“Every person in the church … was just shocked,” Perez said. “I’m going to miss that smile.”
Erin Gallagher is a freelance reporter.