A neighbor remembers the 91-year-old Westmont man killed last week when a freight train struck his car as a former barber and man of faith.

Long-time village resident Louis Lome was pronounced dead by the DuPage County Coroner’s Office at the scene of the accident shortly after 9:45 a.m. Nov. 25 in downtown Westmont. Lome was the only person in the vehicle.

Lome’s next-door-neighbor, Bill Saad, said he was a faithful churchgoer at Holy Trinity and a retired barber.

“He went to church every Sunday. He loved working in his yard, and he did a lot of automotive work on his own car up until the last three years or so,” Saad said.

Lome had lived in his home at 50 E. Richmond St. since before Saad purchased the home next door in 1952. Saad said even at the age of 91, Lome remained active and independent, driving his car about once a day.

“He had bad hearing and bad eyes, which probably didn’t help with the accident,” Saad said.

Police said Lome drove south onto the tracks from westbound Burlington Avenue approximately 30 seconds after the crossing lights and warning bells were activated and the crossing gate was down. Police Chief Jim Ramey said the incident appears to have been an accident.

The train, which was traveling westbound, pushed the car approximately 75 yards west of the crossing until the car slid off the tracks and came to rest on adjacent tracks directly across from Westmont Village Hall. The train’s locomotive car stopped about one-quarter mile from the crossing, according to a police press release.

Lome’s family could not be reached for comment.

Cherie Travis, of Downers Grove, an eyewitness who was waiting at the Westmont train station for her eastbound commuter train, said she called the police immediately. Travis said another man who was also waiting for the train went to the car and checked the victim’s pulse. Travis said the man reported the victim was dead.

Travis said she alerted Metra officials to stop the incoming eastbound Metra train. Debris from the car and downed fencing were littered across the tracks after the crash.

An eastbound Metra commuter train was stalled on the tracks between Fairview and Cass avenues for about two hours while crews investigated the scene and removed the body from the vehicle.

At about noon, the stalled train, eastbound Metra train No. 1262, dropped off all passengers not heading to downtown Chicago at the Westmont Train Station and then ran express to Union Station. The eastbound train behind it, No. 1264, which was also stalled, picked up the passengers at Westmont and continued its regular service.

“I’ll never forget that image,” Travis said of the moment she saw the train pushing the silver vehicle. “It was total disbelief. Why is that car on the train?”