'Ripped away': Man describes day 88-year-old father gunned down in Highland Park parade shooting

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (WLS) -- Jon Straus saw his dad at dinner on July 3, 2022. The next day, his father was shot in the street along the Fourth of July Parade in Highland Park.

Now, Jon Straus shares the memory of his father, Stephen, with ABC7 Chicago, and the fortitude it takes to move forward.

"Ripped away, absolutely, without warning ripped away, and that's the end," Straus said.

As soon as he heard the news of shots fired, Jon Straus tried calling his 88-year-old dad, Stephen.

"After three or four attempts, and after the rest of the family tried contacting him, I immediately just jumped in the car and started driving, got on the expressway and was heading up there. And about two-thirds of the way up there, Highland Park hospital called," Straus said.

He saw the name on his caller ID.

"Just this feeling of dread, the doctor just kind of told me point blank. I said, 'is my dad ok?' He said, 'no he's not. He's gone,'" Straus said.

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A year after Stephen Straus was gunned down in the streets of Highland Park during Fourth of July celebrations, Jon Straus said the memory of that day is incandescent in its anguish.

"You can't process something like that. I mean it was like, it was just like an almost like physical impact. It was so bad," Straus said.

Now, Straus and his family are working to heal, celebrating his father's memory with deep thanks for those who've supported them over the past 12 months.

"The outpouring was just gigantic, and I really felt I needed it you know?" he said. "Just people from all over the country. That support was just, that was huge."

Jon said his dad, Stephen, was a Chicagoan through and through, who moved to Highland Park after two years in the Army.

And, even in his 80s, "he'd go to the symphony, he'd go to the Art Institute, he'd go to art galleries, he'd do this, he'd do that, just for an 88-year-old it's pretty remarkable."

He was a husband, a grandfather and father. He was an example for his son, a son still trying to cope.

"The damage just reverberates," Straus said. "I feel less safe when I go out in public because I was directly impacted by this. You know, it's a reality. I feel, I'm a little paranoid now," Straus said. "The threat is real."

Even amid the healing, that pain endures. But Jon said his dad is an example to live by with an attitude of optimism that propelled him forward in life.