The following is a newspaper account of the death of Matt Moll's son, John. Matt has run the Sunday Sweeper at Lombard Lanes in Lombard, IL for quite a few years, and is a good friend to a lot of bowlers in the area.
Very, very sad, John is in my prayers.
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Sixteen-year-old John Moll recently told his parents God had big plans for him.
Barbara and Matt Moll never doubted that. Their son - a standout athlete who dreamed of playing pro basketball - was always bigger, faster, stronger than life.
But when John was hit and killed by a train Saturday just blocks from the Molls' Lombard home, no one could believe that was part of the plan for the boy who is now remembered for the broad smile always on his face.
Moll was struck in the area of Parkside and Lombard avenues about 6:19 p.m. Officials are still investigating the cause, but he was pronounced dead at the scene as a result of multiple traumatic injuries.
Barbara said just an hour before the accident, John, Matt and she were eating dinner, talking about the day. They discussed a new Baptist church John was interested in attending, as he'd recently faced some personal problems but was heading back in the right direction. He told them he had found God again.
After dinner, John, a sophomore at St. Joseph High School in Westchester, told his parents he was going for a walk.
"Before he left, he came and gave each of us a hug and kiss and said he loved us," Barbara said.
That was the last time they saw him.
Friends remember a guy who had a contagious smile, on and off the court.
"He was just a great kid," said Brandon Streets, a sophomore at Glenbard East who played ball with John growing up. "No matter how bad it was, he could always bring a smile to your face."
Even in death, John brought a reminiscent smile to his parents' faces as they remembered funny or quirky events in his life - like the time he'd learned how to water ski. Getting out of the water smoothly on his first try, John took a hand off the rope for an excited wave and then wiped out - cartwheeling across the water.
"Anything he wanted to do, he did," Barbara said of her son's talent for all things athletic.
Spread across the dining room table where they'd finished dinner with John the night before were his pictures and accolades - John and Purdue head coach Gene Keady at the Purdue Basketball Camp; John with a full head of hair during what Barbara called his "Afro phase" in sixth grade; John and the family.
John attended camps throughout the Midwest and was often named to the top 10 players of the camp.
Among his awards was a letter from Purdue assistant coach Nick Salis critiquing John's skills during the Purdue camp. It read: "John has some of the best basketball awareness I've seen out of a point guard in a long time. He's a born leader on the court and his patience is remarkably admirable."
And while awards said it, coaches repeated it and his parents lauded his successes, John's family said he didn't get a big head about his athletic skills.
Professional basketball players could take some notes from John, his dad said.
"When I would be standing around my friends telling them about what a great game he had, no matter what game it was, he'd get mad at me and tell me to be quiet because he didn't want it," Matt said. "When he played basketball, he'd rather have 20 assists in a game than score 20 points."
Streets knew Moll since they were little and played basketball, soccer and baseball with him.
"He just had this talent and love for the game that you can't teach," Streets said.
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Duke Harding
