Owners of a local grocery story are expressing their condolences for the death of one of their employees by hosting online and in-store fundraisers for her and the woman’s surviving family members.
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Bogdana Mygal, 33, of Des Plaines, was pronounced dead July 5 at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville after being transported there following a multi-vehicle collision in a Lake County suburb. A man is facing driving under the influence charges in connection with the fatal incident that also saw Mygal’s husband and 4-year-old daughter sustain injuries.
“She came from the Ukraine with her husband and no other family. They came here to have a better life. She wanted the best for her and her family. Her daughter was her world. It just breaks my heart,” Joanna Antonik, co-owner of Deli 4 You Market, told Pioneer Press by phone.
Deli 4 You Market, a full-line Polish and European grocery store chain, has five Chicagoland locations, including in Norridge and Niles – the latter is where Mygal worked for three years before her death. Antonik owns the stores with her mother, Margaret.
“We always enjoyed working with her. She was extremely liked, super nice to customers, co-workers, and so helpful. She was a wonderful person,” said Antonik.
The Niles store has set up a memorial at the cash register where Mygal usually worked. Also at the check out lane is a jar where people can deposit cash as part of a fundraiser. An online fundraiser is running on the GoFundMe website where, as of Tuesday, more than $54,000 has been raised. The initial goal was $50,000 but is now changed to $70,000.
Antonik said she and her mother also plan to provide food from the store to the family as the fundraising is managed.
“I just felt the community wanted to help and I wanted to open this up to them,” Antonik said. “It’s not going to help with everything, but with something financially. We’re very grateful we have such a great community that wants to support the family.”
According to the Lake County sheriff’s office, Mygal, her husband and 4-year-old daughter, were traveling from a Fourth of July celebration on July 5 at 10:15 p.m. when they were involved in a three-vehicle collision on West Russell and Frontage roads in Wadsworth
Mygal, a passenger in the family’s 2016 Chevrolet Volt, was taken from the scene to hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.
The Lake County Coroner determined she died of blunt force trauma. Her husband and daughter also suffered serious, but non-life threatening injuries, according to authorities.
Andrew Willard, 58, of the 600 block of West Natalie Lane, Addison, was charged July 8 with aggravated DUI causing death, DUI and traffic violations for allegedly traveling at a high rate of speed and failing to stop at a stop sign at Frontage Road, striking both the vehicle Mygal was in with her family and another vehicle – which were both stopped at the intersection. The driver and passenger in the other vehicle, as well as Willard, suffered serious, but non-life threatening injuries, Covelli said.
“Crash investigators believe Willard was more than twice the legal limit for alcohol when he crashed,” according to a sheriff’s office news release.
Willard is being held in the Lake County Jail on pre-trial detention. He is scheduled to appear in court again July 30.
Mygal started working as a cashier at Deli 4 You three years ago when the deli opened in Niles, Antonik said. The team at the Niles store saw she was eager to work, be part of a new store and the team, and thought her energy was infectious.
Elizabeth Owens-Schiele is a freelancer. Pioneer Press staff contributed.