The Wheaton College Thunder baseball team paid tribute Tuesday, Oct. 13, to freshman Tomassino "Tommy" Offer, who was struck and killed by a freight train in downtown Wheaton on Sunday, Oct. 11.
Offer, 18, was hit by an eastbound Union Pacific freight train near Main Street and Front Street after leaving Mass at St. Michael Catholic Church, ABC7 Chicago reported. A Metra spokesperson said Offer had stopped for a westbound freight train and began crossing after it passed, unaware of a second train approaching from the opposite direction, according to WGN. Metra said the incident remains under investigation but indicated nothing suggests it was anything other than an accident.
Head coach Matt Husted described Offer as someone whose character stood out from the start.
"Tommy was sincere in all aspects of his life. He was joyful, but a competitor – all qualities that made him a great teammate," Husted said in a statement posted by Wheaton College Athletics.
Husted said Offer genuinely cared about the people around him and made them feel they mattered. The coach said Offer had built a large network on campus in just weeks as a freshman, connecting with people in the Wheaton community well beyond the baseball program.
Offer moved from Michigan to Wheaton to study business and play baseball, according to The Union Star. At Notre Dame Preparatory School in Pontiac, Michigan, he played in every game during his senior baseball season. The team finished 34-4. Offer batted .388 with 26 runs scored, 15 RBIs and 13 stolen bases, The Union Star reported.
He also played goalkeeper for Notre Dame Prep's state championship soccer team as a junior and earned first-team all-state recognition as a senior.
Andrew J. Guest, head of school at Notre Dame Prep, said in a statement that Offer was loved by teachers and classmates and cherished by friends, including teammates on the school's state championship soccer team and baseball team.
The Rev. Santos Castillo of St. Michael Catholic Church told ABC7 Chicago that Offer attended Mass every Sunday. Castillo said he saw Offer shortly before the freshman left the church with a friend that morning.
Wheaton College held a memorial gathering Sunday evening, ABC7 Chicago reported. Students and community members attended a memorial Mass on Monday, Oct. 12, at St. Michael Catholic Church. A prayer vigil was scheduled for Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. at Saint Lawrence Catholic Church in Utica, Michigan, according to The Union Star.
