Marine Lance Cpl. Sean P. Maher

Died February 2, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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19, of Grays Lake, Ill.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Hawaii; killed Feb. 2 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.

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Grayslake Marine dies in Iraq ambush

Associated Press

GRAYSLAKE, Ill. — Lance Cpl. Sean Maher had just two days left to serve in Iraq when the 19-year-old Marine from this northern Illinois community was killed in an ambush, his family said Thursday.

Maher was driving a Humvee when his unit was ambushed Wednesday night near Fallujah, his aunt, Peggy O’Keefe, said.

Maher’s parents, Dan and Janet Maher, and his 16-year-old sister, Katie, learned of his death Thursday morning when Marines rang the bell at the family’s home.

“Sean was a very kind young man,” O’Keefe said. “He was always there to help you. He was the kind of kid everyone wanted for their own.”

The couple also has a 22-year-old son, Dan, who is serving in the Navy. His ship is in dry dock in San Diego, O’Keefe said.

Described as kind, generous and athletic, Sean Maher enlisted because he thought he could make a difference in Iraq, O’Keefe said.

In Maher’s memory, flags were lowered to half-staff throughout the nearby community of Gurnee where he graduated from Warren Township High School in 2003.

Grief counselors came to the high school Thursday to talk with students and faculty who knew Maher, said Mary Olson, director of instruction at the school.

He was the second Warren Township graduate killed in Iraq. Maher played football with Geoffrey S. Morris, 19, of Gurnee, who died April 4 in combat between Marines and enemy forces in Iraq’s Anbar province.

On Thursday morning, state Sen. Adeline Geo-Karis (R-Zion) announced Maher’s death on the Senate floor in Springfield. She called him a “fabulous athlete” and a “wonderful boy.”