Hit-and-run driver kills bartender: Rachel 'will be sorely missed'
Chicago Police were searching Monday for the driver of a silver Lexus they say struck and killed a 25-year-old woman who had just finished a busy Halloween shift tending bar.
Rachel Gilliam, 25, worked full-time as a bartender and server at Bowman's Bar & Grill, 4356 N. Leavitt, in Chicago's North Center neighborhood.
Saturday night's shift stretched an hour longer than usual because of the daylight saving time change, and Gilliam worked in costume as a mail-order bride for the bar's Halloween party.
She was struck around 3:40 a.m. at 4314 N. Lincoln, just north of a stop sign neighbors say drivers frequently roll through. Police said witnesses told them the driver of the Lexus did not stop after striking Gilliam and continued driving south on Lincoln Avenue.
Family and friends described Gilliam as a fun, adventurous world traveler whose spirit led her to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and travel to Uruguay, Argentina and Dubai, among other places.
A Kansas City native who moved to Chicago to attend DePaul University, she could also find joy in simple things closer to home, such as snuggling up to her beloved cat, Stewart.
"Rachel was incredibly generous, loving and willing to do anything for her friends and family," her sister Audrey Gilliam said. "Her fun-loving nature and sarcasm will be sorely missed."
Frank Simone, Bowman's manager and executive chef, said the bar's close-knit staff is devastated by Gilliam's death. The bar shut early Sunday because of Gilliam's death, he said.
He added that staff members are puzzled why Gilliam, who lived in Lincoln Park on the 2700 block of North Hampden Court, didn't catch a cab in front of the bar, as she typically did.
Simone and Manuel Smith, Bowman's cook, described Gilliam as energetic and upbeat, a hard-working server who was well known to even casual customers.
"She was always happy and had a goofball sense of humor," Smith said. "She liked to dance and jump around."
Audrey Gilliam called her sister her best friend.
"I love her deeply," she said.