Oak Park man, 91, dies in bike accident A 91-year-old Oak Park man died in a cycling accident while crossing Madison Street in the near west suburban village, police said Friday.
Suleyman Cetin, of the 500 block of Madison Street, was traveling north on Scoville Avenue about 8 p.m. Thursday when a 46-year-old Bellwood man driving a sedan struck and killed him as the cyclist attempted to cross Madison Street, according to a Village of Oak Park news release.
The driver, Ivory Roland, was ticketed for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, the release states.
The victim's family bears the driver no ill will, said Sabri Cetinkunt, Cetin's 51-year-old son.
"It seems like it was just an unfortunate accident and we wish for all the best," Cetinkunt said.
The son reflected on his father's life Friday, nothing that he worked his usual day shift at a car wash just last week.
"He did believe in always working," Cetinkunt said.
Dressed in his usual attire of a yellow shirt, jeans and a baseball cap, the 91-year-old was working at Valero Gas Station, on the corner of East Avenue and Madison, last Friday, said 23-year-old Valero employee Jay Samad.
Cetin's job was to wipe the cars dry after they were washed, Samad said.
"He was a strong man," Samad said. "A very nice guy, too. He was just so nice to everyone."
A Turkish-born man who retired from a shipyard laborer job in Germany and emigrated to the United States about 30 years ago, Cetin worked odd jobs at car washes and fast-food restaurants for the last 25 years in Oak Park, the son said. He said his father changed his last name when he immigrated.
wjventeicher@tribune.comhttp://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/oak_park_river_forest_forest_park/ct-tl-oak-park-cyclist-death-20131025,0,3589286.story
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No doubt. Just last week I kicked a car that nearly made a right turn right over me on the North Shore Trail at Main Street. I'm not an aggressive bike asshole. Just don't threaten me with your vehicle.
