An 87-year-old man and dance instructor in suburban Buffalo Grove was struck and killed by a vehicle Monday, and is being remembered by loved ones as an "energy ball" with a deep passion for what he did.
Roman Mazur was struck by a vehicle at around 8 a.m. at the intersection of Buffalo Grove Road and Larraway Drive in Buffalo Grove, and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to authorities.
Police did not reveal information regarding the vehicle that fatally struck Mazur, though said the driver was cooperating with authorities.
Mazur and his wife, Tatyana, first arrived in the U.S. from Kyiv in the late 1990s and went on to found Mazurdance, a studio located in Buffalo Grove.
"Roman has been doing this since he was a young man, he started when he was 25," Mazur's great-niece Maria Khrakovsky said.
Khrakovsky said Mazur would jog up to four miles a day and kept notes of his blood pressure, noting he deeply valued his physical health.
Roman was jogging when he was struck Monday morning, leaving behind a legacy felt across generations.
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"His colleagues and friends are all over the world. In the U.S., Israel, Ukraine, Europe, he was the center," Mazur's wife Tatyana said.
On Tuesday, the dance studio closets are stuffed with Ukrainian and Russian ballet pieces worn decades ago by dancers in those countries.
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Classes at the studio are scheduled to be held for the rest of the week in honor of Mazur, ahead of his services on Friday.
