The father of two of the three children who drowned in Geneva Lake in a massive storm Friday said his children were “deeply loved” in a GoFundMe the family launched to raise money for a charity in their memory.
The children were identified as Abigail Oswald, 7, and Caleb Oswald, 6, by their father, Brad Oswald, who organized the verified fundraiser.
Abigail “was kind, loving, and wise beyond her years” and wanted to become a teacher, the fundraiser said. She loved to dance and swim.
“Caleb had the sweetest heart and a smile that could brighten anyone’s day,” the fundraiser said. “Caleb found happiness in the simple things, and his laughter and excitement were contagious.” He loved trucks, Chick-fil-A and singing and dancing.
“Caleb and Abigail were more than brother and sister — they were best friends,” the fundraiser said.
Wheaton school officials Wednesday confirmed that two of the three children were students in its district.
“On behalf of Community Unit School District 200, our deepest condolences are with the family and friends of the children who died in a tragic boating incident in Lake Geneva on July 3,” a district spokesperson said. “We ask that you join us in supporting these families during this difficult time, and keep them in your thoughts as we all cope with this incredible loss.”
At the start of the Wheaton District 200 school board meeting Wednesday night, board Vice President Julie Kulovits, who led the meeting, called for a moment of silence for the victims.
She said the whole district grieves together “whenever we experience a loss in our (school) community.”
Kulovits asked the board, staff and several visitors to remember the Lincoln Elementary School community as it “deals with an incredible loss.”
The Oswald family’s two-story brick home on a tree-lined street just blocks from the Morton Arboretum and DuPage County’s Danada Equestrian Center was quiet Wednesday. Neighbors who know the Oswalds declined to comment, citing the family’s silence on the tragedy.
The children were among 10 people who were aboard a privately owned 25-foot 2024 Nautique P25 Friday afternoon as a massive storm swept into the region, capsizing the vessel and sending all the passengers overboard.
Authorities on Monday said the people aboard the boat that capsized Friday were from suburban Batavia and Wheaton, as well as the town of Fontana, Wisconsin, but authorities have not released the identities of the children. The third child who drowned was 10 years old, officials said.
A spokesperson from the Batavia Public School District 101 said Tuesday it is aware of the boating accident but is “not confirming student information” out of “respect for the family’s privacy.”
“We are focused on supporting our students, staff, and families as they process this loss,” an emailed statement from the district said.
The Geneva Lake Law Enforcement Agency said in a news release Monday that the passengers ranged in ages from 6 to 75. Investigation records show that all the children on board the vessel were wearing life jackets of proper size and fit, authorities said.
They added that the man operating the boat had “extensive boating experience” and had sought shelter as the weather rolled in, but conditions deteriorated too quickly.
According to the National Weather Service, the storm brought winds between 90 and 100 mph to Walworth County, where Geneva Lake and the longtime vacation destination Lake Geneva are located. That’s roughly equivalent to winds that would come with a Category 2 hurricane.
Onlookers also drew comparisons between Friday’s storm and hurricanes in interviews with the Tribune, reporting 6-foot whitecaps and flipped-over boats amid “vicious” winds.
Julie Parsons Carani, who was vacationing at Geneva Lake on Friday, said she’d never seen weather come in so quickly — nor had she seen “so many people misjudge it and run out of time like that.”
“I see so many comments online about why didn’t they get to shore,” she said. “They have no idea. Everyone was taken by surprise.”
Carani, like others who witnessed the storm or the accident itself, was thinking of the children’s family as recovery efforts continued around Walworth County.
“It’s just awful,” she said. “I can’t imagine. My heart breaks for those people.”
Jeff Steingart, who responded to the accident through an emergency services mutual aid network that stretches across Northern Illinois, said his team’s sonar specialists were just about to get in the lake to assist with the search when divers recovered the three children’s bodies from the sunken boat.
“We saw the ambulances leaving on the other side of the bay, from a distance,” he said. “They said the operation had been completed.”
While debriefing with other emergency workers and law enforcement on Bigfoot Beach, Steingart said he could see authorities talking to family members.
“You could just tell by the looks on everybody’s faces that it was a difficult moment,” he said.
At that point, Steingart said, “We were grateful everybody had been located and hopeful that they had a chance.”
It wasn’t until an hour or so later, after he’d pivoted to the rest of the disaster response, taking place at a nearby Piggly Wiggly grocery store, that he heard the children had died.
Aurora Beacon-News reporter Molly Morrow and Chicago Tribune reporter Robert McCoppin contributed.
