Hundreds of people joined together on Chicago's South Side tonight to honor Kevin Thunderbird, a father of three Kenwood Academy athletes who was shot to death in Hyde Park earlier this week.
Praying for strength and for comfort, Thunderbird’s family and friends gathered on Simeon High School’s baseball diamond, where the 36-year-old spent some of his best days.
“I can just see him now, it’s like I have an angel in the outfield,” said his mother, Diane Thunderbird. “He was the centerfielder.”
Kevin was a star athlete growing up and now raising three of his own.
His boys are devastated that their dad won’t get to see them play college sports.
“It still don’t seem real because I just feel like earlier today he was just talking, we were just talking about doing big thing, like going off to college,” said Kevin Thunderbird Jr.
Kevin Jr. and his brother K’vion told NBC Chicago the last two weeks were some of the best of their lives.
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Both athletes at Kenwood Academy, they won the city championship, went to prom, and graduated. Their dad was by their side, cheering them on during it all.
But on Monday, Thunderbird’s life was cut short.
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Police said Thunderbird was walking in Hyde Park when he was shot by a suspect riding in a vehicle. Officials said Thunderbird also returned fire in the exchange, but succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital.
“I just cherish all those moments, memories we had,” K’vion Thunderbird told NBC Chicago. “And just grateful it went down like that and that we all came together as one.”
Thursday night was not about Kevin’s death, but his life, and the hundreds of hearts he’s touched along the way.
Not only through sports, but through his giving spirit.
“It’s the impact he had on everybody’s lives,” his wife, Camille Thunderbird said. “It just shows you the type of man he was.”
“Kevin just had a spirit that was lively, fun, and if you meet him he is going to try to help you,” Diane, Thunderbird's mother, said.
No one is in custody for the shooting as Chicago police continue to investigate.
