Bolingbrook H.S. Grad Dies In Pennsylvania Plane Crash

BOLINGBROOK, IL — A Bolingbrook High School graduate and west suburban native died in an airplane crash in Pennsylvania Sept. 18, according to reports. Matthew J. Berszoner, an Air Force veteran and commercial airline pilot, died after a home-built plane he was in crashed into the Pocono Mountains.

Berszoner, 34, was killed in the crash along with 65-year-old John H. Parker, when the two-seater plane they were in disappeared Sept. 17. Its debris was found a day later, 90 miles north of Philadelphia, according to the Associated Press. It was not clear who was piloting the plane, according to reports. The incident is still under investigation.

Berszoner lived in Pennsylvania at the time of the crash, but was a native of the western Chicago suburbs. He was born in Downers Grove and attended Jonas Salk Elementary and Humphrey Middle School before graduating in 2003 from Bolingbrook High School, according to a remembrance posted by the Village of Bolingbrook.

After graduating from high school, Berszoner attended the United States Air Force Academy and served in the armed forces for 16 years, including in several campaigns in the Middle East, according to the Village.

"Matt loved all things aviation from an early age, spending time with computer flight simulators and the EAA Young Eagles flight program," the Village of Bolingbrook said in a Facebook post. "Matt was kind, intelligent, dedicated, and multi-talented and had a great sense of humor."

In March, Berszoner was hired by United Airlines as a pilot.

There will be a local visitation and interment for Berszoner. The visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Bolingbrook-McCauley Funeral Chapel & Crematorium, 530 W. Boughton Rd. in Bolingbrook. The interment will take place at 1 p.m. Saturday at Resurrection Cemetery, 200 W. Romeo Rd. in Romeoville.

Those wishing to honor Berszoner's memory can make donations to the EAA Young Eagles program, or to a local veterans' program.