Niles Park District commissioner and former deputy police chief Bill Terpinas, 80, drops dead while in the 4th of July Niles Parade

A longtime Niles Park District commissioner and former deputy police chief died yesterday after collapsing minutes into the village's annual July 4th parade, according to parks officials.
Bill Terpinas, 80, was in a golf cart throwing candy to kids along the route when he collapsed shortly after the parade started at 9 a.m., said Jo Ann Raschillo, executive administrative coordinator with the park district. The district's finance director was driving the cart at the time, Raschillo said.

Terpinas, who served 16 years as a park commissioner, was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where he was pronounced dead, Raschillo said.
“He had just started the route,” she said. “It was horrible…just horrible.”

Niles Police Chief Dean Strzelecki said he was behind Terpinas and the other park district commissioners in the parade line. Strzelecki said he heard the report over his radio of someone collapsing near the parade's starting point at Notre Dame College Prep. The person was described as being unresponsive, he said.

The parade continued, with some officials learning of Terpinas' passing while still on the parade route.

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