Fundraiser held for family of Buffalo Grove High School security guard killed in car crash
Buffalo Grove High School and the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday honored a beloved school security guard who was killed in a car crash while trying to shield students earlier this year.
Orlando Rivas, 52, was killed outside Buffalo Grove High School in April while he was shielding students when a pole fell on him after a car hit it while trying to pull out of the parking lot.
On Tuesday night, Finn McCool's Irish Sports Pub in Wheeling hosted a fundraiser for Rivas' family.
Orlando was remembered as a devoted father of four and husband to his wife Erin for 15 years.
"Even when it first happened and I find out that he did saved these students' lives, I knew it couldn't be another way he had to do what he had to do and that's just Orlando," she said.
"I can't get him out of my mind because I love my son and we used to talk every day and I miss that," said Roy Rivas, Orlando's father.
Roy said Orlando always put himself in front of everybody and remembered him as a "real humble kid."
"His ability to make kids know that they belong, that they were special and heard I have never seen anyone as good as him," said Jeff Wardle, principal at Buffalo Grove High School.
White Sox legend Ron Kittle, who knew Rivas when he and his father worked for the team, emceed a tribute to him. Plenty of White Sox memorabilia, game tickets, and other prizes were being auctioned off, with the proceeds going toward Orlando's family.
"It's a tragic loss, but you have to look at it this way: he passed away being a hero and that puts him on the next level of people in my life and I love that about him," Kittle said.
Erin says she has heard from the students Orlando helped save and says she's comforted knowing how many people her husband impacted.
"It's really helped me heal. I know there will always be sadness in my heart, but I always think, like what would Orlando want us to be doing, what would Orlando do and he would want us to continue to be happy and living and connecting," she said.
"A security guard who wasn't just a security guard but a friend to all of us at Buffalo Grove High School and he will be thoroughly missed," said Ezekiel Mason, Buffalo Grove High School Student.
