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Lifelong La Grange Friends Killed In Wisconsin Crash

CHICAGO (CBS) -- An elderly man and woman visiting Wisconsin from La Grange were killed in a car accident over the weekend due to an alleged drunk driver.

David Rosol, 82, and Hazel DeWitt, 83, headed North to see relatives. They were ten minutes from their destination, on a deserted road in Neenah, when the crash killed the pair of lifelong friends.

"He shouldn't have gone this way," said Diane Urban, one of Rosol's four children.

She says her dad was an airplane enthusiast and outdoors guy who easily kept 11 grandchildren entertained. "He was funny, he always had a story to tell; he just enjoyed life."

DeWitt's daughter, Jennifer Spielman, said they considered Rosol family, adding that both families are like one. "I've grown up with his kids. We've been to every function together," she said.

DeWitt was often called "Itty Bitty DeWitty," as she stood just 4-foot 8-inches. "Believe it or not, she started one of the first women's volleyball leagues at the Y in the 60's."

But in a small package came a big heart.

Hazel DeWitt
Hazel DeWitt. (Photo provided to CBS)

"Every kid in town could come to her and talk to her, so a lot of people considered her 'Mom,'" Spielman said.

Rosol and DeWitt are being remembered in La Grange Park Tuesday night.

57-year-old Joseph Konetzke is expected to be charged with homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle, which would be his fourth such charge. He was arrested for drunk driving in Neenah, his hometown, on Nov. 21, and then again by the same officer on Dec. 2 -- 15 days before this fatal crash.

He had a drunk driving conviction in 2001.

Konetzke's charges are to come as soon as he is released from the hospital.

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