Family grieves after mother of 7 hit, killed by train while on bike ride in Grayslake, Illinois

A Grayslake family is looking for answers after a mother of seven was hit and killed by a freight train while on a bike ride last week.

They spoke about the life she lived, the legacy she left behind, and the missing safety measures that may have cost her her life.

"In the last several days the catalpa has slowly been dropping its petals, and to me it looks like there are tears coming directly from the tree that are coming directly for Ginny," said Tim Girmscheid.

Virginia Girmscheid, known as Ginny, was Tim's wife for the last 39 years.

"One of my mom's favorite flowers were hydrangeas," daughter Savannah said. 

She was mom to Savannah, one of her seven kids. There is so much they could share about Ginny, who they say was a gentle warrior, but Tim says he was able to narrow down a few core memories.

"We have many stories of her going to Trader Joe's when they first opened up in Lake Zurich, and she would tote all seven kids with," he said.

In the last year, Ginny was diagnosed with a rare type of blood cancer.

"She battled like a warrior through six months of chemo and was winning the battle," Tim said.

It was a battle Tim says she was able to get some reprieve from.

"These days, bike rides were more as a peaceful getaway and the motion was good for her," he said.

Ginny's family says she went for a bike ride around 8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9, when she got to a railroad crossing. They say that's when she was unfortunately struck by a freight train.

In this area near Lake and Hillside, there are pedestrian gates and signs that say "NO TRAIN HORN."

At this point, with more questions than answers, Tim says they don't blame anyone for this tragic accident.

Metra says they are investigating.

"It's a concern that I don't think that we really want to think through right now. It's a concern that has been raised by others in the community," he said.

For now, they say they are leaning on their foundation of faith and have peace in god's greater plan. They say they are grateful for their big family, Ginny's legacy, and community support.

"When you go through such deep, deep gut-wrenching fetal-position grief, that we are going through that, we have to realize that it's not even one day at a time, it's one hour at a time, one minute at a time, one moment at a time" Tim said.

"No amount of time was ever enough and we will, yeah, miss her," Savannah said.