'I Need Closure To This'; Hit-And-Run Victim's Widow Seeks Justice
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Michael Potwora's wife is looking for answers, and for justice, after the 72-year-old was killed in a hit-and-run Thursday night in north suburban Niles.
"I need closure to this," Mary Potwora said as she held a piece of the vehicle she believes struck her husband.
She doesn't have closure, because the driver who slammed into her husband at the intersection of Greenwood Avenue and Betty Terrace never stopped. Michael Potwora, a 72-year-old former postal worker, was on his way back from a trip to the store when a hit-and-run driver slammed into him.
That's why his widow was speaking out Friday morning, trying to find justice for a man she'd been with 18 years, but married just four months ago.
"I want the person to come forward," she said.
Although the driver who killed Michael Potwora didn't stop, another motorist did after rear-ending the SUV responsible for the hit-and-run. That driver tried to help Michael after the collision.
Mary has questions for that person.
"What was the last moments? Was he unconscious? Was he able to look at you?" she said.
Now she's thinking about some of her last moments with Michael, like in the cemetery on Christmas day, when he spoke to his late parents.
"He said 'I'm not ready to come up there, yet, mom. I've got a wonderful wife to take care of me," she said.
She now believes Michael was ready, and a card that was knocked from his hands when he was struck confirms that feeling. The front of the card says, "God invites you to dream of the day you feel His hand on your shoulder and his eyes on your face: 'Well Done,' He will say, 'good and faithful servant.'"
"Michael picked a card that, 'You're going to have the hand of God on your shoulder' within a few minutes of leaving Jane's Hallmark," Mary Potwora said.
Mary said she didn't marry Michael just to bury him, but now she's faced with the task of doing just that.
The vehicle that hit Michael Potwora was described only as a white SUV or truck. If anyone was traveling on Greenwood around the time of the hit-and-run, they are asked to contact the Niles Police Department at (847)588-6551.