Fundraiser helps Oak Lawn family cope with daughter’s death

• Reprints

Jerry Hurckes (right), of Oak Lawn, pictured with his brother-in-law, Jim Kegl, will host the Megan Hurckes Memorial Candlelight Bowl. | Supplied photo

Updated: March 1, 2012 8:45AM

Friends and family of Megan Hurckes will gather Saturday at Brunswick Zone in Oak Lawn to celebrate what would have been her 13th birthday.

Megan, 10, the daughter of former Oak Lawn Trustee Jerry Hurckes, died in September 2009 after an ATV accident.

The Hurckeses decided shortly after Megan’s death that they would celebrate her life rather than mourn her death. The bowling outing accomplishes that goal and raises money for the Megan Hurckes Scholarship Fund, which was established shortly after her death.

The third annual Megan Hurckes Memorial Candlelight Bowl will be held from 7 p.m. to midnight at Brunswick Zone, 4700 W. 103rd St.

Tickets are $15 and include bowling, shoes and food. A cash bar will be available. There is no charge for those who do not bowl. Raffles will be held throughout the night.

Money raised is used to grant scholarships to students at Oak Lawn Community High School. So far, three students have received $1,500 scholarships.

The fund is working with Simmons Middle School in Oak Lawn to provide students high school scholarships, said MaryAnn Hurckes, Megan’s mother.

The Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn and West Side Baseball of Oak Lawn, where Megan played softball, also are beneficiaries.

Monetary donations can be sent to the Megan Hurckes Scholarship Fund, 7036 W. 96th St., Oak Lawn, IL 60453.

More than 300 people attended each of the first two bowling events, and the majority of lanes are booked for this year’s outing.

“There are still a few lanes left,” MaryAnn Hurckes said.

Additional lanes will be added as needed, she said.

Organizing the event helps the Hurckes family cope with Megan’s death.

“It’s hard. It’s nice that people remember,” MaryAnn Hurckes said. “Afterward, there is a letdown.”

The event also will include a balloon launch and a birthday cake to honor Megan’s memory.