Parents Rally To Turn Palos Hills Blue In Honor Of Thomas Stachon, 7

PALOS HILLS, IL — So that 8-year-old Anthony Stachon feels the support of the community when he returns to school next week, parents from Oak Ridge and Sorrick schools will be turning Palos Hills light blue, in honor of his younger brother, Thomas, 7, who died unexpectedly on Dec. 8.

Thomas, a second-grader at Oak Ridge Elementary School, was happy and healthy when he suddenly took ill last week, and was placed in an induced coma with inflammation of the brain.

“He was 100-percent amazing the day before,” the boy’s uncle, Juan Quintero, told Patch. “He started throwing up the next day, and had a seizure in the middle of the night.”

Volunteers will meet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 13, on the 8500 block of Sun Valley Drive, Palos Hills.

>>> Support for the Stachon Family in Memory of Thomas

“We are looking for anyone and everyone to come out and help tie ribbons around trees,” said a post in the parents Facebook group.

The group is asking volunteers to please bring light blue ribbons; cutting up a light blue tablecloth or sheet/pillow case works well, too. Volunteers will start on Sun Valley Drive and work their way toward Oak Ridge school.

The little boy called “Tommy” by his family and friends, was a vibrant and compassionate young boy, who loved roughhousing with his brothers, building Legos, playing soccer and could often be heard singing the Haaland chant.

Richard and Gosia Stachon, with their sons, Anthony, Thomas and Matthew. | Family photo

Thomas and his younger brother, Matthew, 2, whom his uncle described as Thomas’s “partner in mischief” had a special bond. A family photo shows Matthew reaching down to pat his brother’s head.

While the Stachon family is left to face a Christmas without someone dear to them who was here a year ago, Thomas’s legacy of kindness will live on in four other children who were given renewed life through organ donation.

“A little baby got his liver,” Quintero said.

Other family members have created a GoFundMe campaign, “Support for the Stachon Family in Memory of Thomas,” to help Thomas’s parents with funeral costs, out-of-pocket medical expenses, grief counseling and to provide a foundation for the family as they cope with this loss.

Visitation for Thomas will take place from 4 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 14, at Skaja Terrace Funeral Home, 7812 N. Milwaukee Ave., Niles. The funeral procession will leave the funeral home at 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 15, to St. Rosalie Church, 6750 W. Montrose Ave., Harwood Heights, for the funeral Mass at 11 a.m.