McHenry County man falls through ice in front of son, dies
BY FRANK MAIN And STefano Esposito Staff Reporters February 20, 2012 8:56AM
Family members and friends sit outside the pond where Patrick "Rocko" Rorig (inset) fell through the ice while getting ready to play ice hockey with his son in Johnsburg. | Al Podgorski~Sun-Times, Courtesy NBC5
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Updated: March 22, 2012 8:07AM
A beloved McHenry County homebuilder fell through the ice of his backyard pond and died while getting ready to play hockey with his youngest son Sunday, officials and friends said.
Patrick Rorig, 47, of Johnsburg, was found under the ice by fire department divers who searched the pond for more than 30 minutes, authorities said. He fell through about 10 feet from the edge of the pond at about 6:15 p.m. Sunday.
Rorig was airlifted to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, where he was pronounced dead.
Before the accident, Rorig told his 14-year-old son: “ ‘This is the last time we’ll be able to play hockey this year. Let’s strap them on,’ ” according to Thomas Popovich, a family friend.
Emergency crews from the McHenry Township Fire Protection District were called to the pond in the 3700 block of Windmere Lane in Johnsburg. The temperature was just barely below freezing.
Divers pulled Rorig from the water after 32 minutes of searching, Battalion Chief Mike Majercik said.
He is also survived by two older sons and his wife, Popovich said.
Rorig moved into the community when he was in the seventh grade, Popovich said. “Nobody knew him, but he would wear these two Rocky Balboa T-shirts all the time, so we started calling him Rocco and it stuck,” Popovich said. “He was a bull of a man and he would do anything for anybody.”
Popovich, an attorney, said Rorig was a fixture in their upscale Johnsburg community.
Recently, Rorig and his son quietly helped the widow of a village trustee move from her home, which she could no longer afford to stay in, Popovich said.
“They spent two days with a trailer moving her to a smaller home,” he said.
Rorig loved to play hockey and tennis — and recruited his neighbors to participate, Popovich said.
“Every year he would groom the ice on the pond, buy sticks for everybody and everybody in the neighborhood would play bruising games of hockey,” Popovich said.
Rorig got hooked on tennis a few years ago and encouraged his pals to join him in matches throughout the year — even in the winter. He would shovel the tennis courts and they would play no matter what the weather was, Popovich said.
For several years, Rorig begged Popovich to join his buddies on the tennis court and this summer, he bought Popovich a racquet. Popovich finally agreed to play and was on the court several times a week because of Rorig.
“He was our leader,” said Popovich, who left the racquet he received from Rorig next to the pond as a memorial to his friend.
Rorig has been a homebuilder in the area since 1999, according to his company web site.
“Anybody who wanted a great house would go to Rocco,” Popovich said.
It was the second time in February that a man died in the Johnsburg area after falling through ice. The body of ice fisherman Justin Ribar, 29, of Wonder Lake, was recovered from Pistakee Lake on Feb. 3, authorities said.
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