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Chicago High School Staffer 'Died Doing What He Loved -- Helping People'

(CBS) – There was a somber mood Monday at a Chicago public high school as teachers and students remembered a long time staff member.

Taft High's Jeffery Komada of Des Plaines was helping another driver on the Tri-State Tollway when he was hit by truck and killed Saturday.

Komada, 54, had pulled over to assist a mother and her 4-year-old child who had been involved in a crash, authorities said.

"That's typical Jeff, that he was helping somebody else because that's all he did around here was help everybody," Taft principal Mark Grishaber tells CBS 2's Marissa Bailey.

Komada was the technology director for more than 30 years and knew everyone at Taft. The faculty and staff are devastated.

Derrick Whittaker worked side by side with Komada for nearly a decade.

"He died doing what he loved -- helping people," the colleague said.

Faculty and staff had a private gathering today to remember their friend.

Komada was married and had two children. His funeral is scheduled for later this week.

 

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