Community mourns manager of bookstore in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood who died in crash

Staff and customers at a beloved bookstore in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood mourned the manager of the store this week, after he was killed in a car crash.

The Will County Coroner's office reported that Richard Wojcikowski, 57, of Park Forest, Illinois, died at 12:45 p.m. this past Friday in a crash on Governors Highway north of University Parkway in University Park.

Wojcikowski was the manager of Bookie's New and Used Books, at 10324 S. Western Ave. In a statement on Facebook, Bookie's owner Keith Lewis and the rest of the staff wrote that Wojcikowski was the "backbone" of the store.

"The Bookie's family is together in grief with Rich's wife and children. We are all in a state of shock," the store said in a post on Sunday. "Rich did the work of ten people and it is difficult to figure out our after. Memorials are being planned for a later date. A longer and more fitting tribute from us will be forthcoming."

The store invited people to sign a memory book that was to be given to Wojcikowski's family.

Numerous customers left comments of mourning and condolence on the post.

"I genuinely cried when I heard this," one customer wrote. "He loved books and this store and this neighborhood. I loved buying books for my public library department here, and he always carried them to my car for me. He will be deeply missed and it's hard to imagine Bookies without his busy (but smiling) face."

Bookie's reported that it is open with limited hours through Sunday, Sept. 13.