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Dani Zellmer-Bunzell remembered for her infectious smile · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Danny Zelmer Bunzel remembered for her infectious smile. Written by
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  Kevin Hieronymus, this article is being read by an automated
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  voice brought to you by Everlet. Demi Salazar will never
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  forget the first time he met Danny Zelmer. He said
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  it's one of his top stories ever, and he shared
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  it on his Facebook. I was the head coach for IVVP,
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  and the day before the tryouts, I would always go
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  to the YMCA in Peru and just offer letting kids
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  do serving things and then we'd get them ready for
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  some of the drills. So while I was there, I
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  saw two girls there and I asked them if they
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  wanted to join us, because when I talked to them,
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  they said that they were going to go out for
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  a club named IVVP. So I said, why don't you
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  just come and join us. We're doing some scrimmages and stuff.
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  While they were there, I was talking to the two
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  girls and I said, what level are you going out for?
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  They said that they were going out for the sixteen you.
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  So I told them that they better work really hard
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  today because the sixteen U coach was just one of
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  these people that like demanded everything and you know, it's
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  basically just a tough coach. So we worked all day
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  and I told them that I thought that I knew
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  what they were looking for, and they had a good shot.
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  The next day, their faces were hilarious when I walked
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  in and told them I was a sixteen you coach
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  and I was running the tryouts. Zelmer would not only
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  make that sixteen U team, but would go on to
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  star for Salazar's nineteen ninety eight sectional champions and sweet
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  sixteen volleyball team at Putnam County, the first in school history,
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  and later succeeded him as head coach at Hall. Sadly,
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  Danny Zelmer Bunzel passed away this week. She was forty five.
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  She was a good kid, Salazar said, his voice cracking.
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  She was always smiling. Zelmer and the Lady Panthers had
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  Salazar smiling after reaching the Class A Sweet sixteen in
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  her senior season in nineteen ninety eight, They beat Midland
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  sixteen fourteen fifteen eleven for the regional championship at Hall. Next,
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  PC defeated Weathersfield fifteen eleven nine, fifteen, fifteen twelve before
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  topping neighbor Hall fifteen one seven fifteen fifteen twelve to
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  capture the Dunlap Sectional championship. PC ran into undefeated Millageville
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  at the Kewanese Supersectional, where their season ended, falling fifteen
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  twelve fifteen to two. As PC's first Sweet sixteen finalists.
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  They would return the next year. Zelmer had four hundred
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  and sixteen kills, teaming up with junior Caitlin Egan for
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  a powerful one to two punch. She was a senior
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  then and we didn't have many. We had two, and
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  the other wasn't a starter. Salazasa said her and Egan
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  got along. When Egan had a bad night, it seemed
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  like she always picked it up. It's very seldom you
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  get two players of that caliber on the same team.
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  She was just a good kid and had a great
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  work ethic. She was just easy to get along with.
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  Classmate Brent Ferrari described Danny on face book as graceful
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  with perfect form, adding I never knew how she jumped
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  so high. Salazar, who has coached volleyball in the Illinois
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  Valley for fifty two years, preparing for his third year
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  as head coach at Mendota, said Zelmer is one of
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  the top five outside hitters he's had along with Egan
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  and Kendall Rush, Kaylee Klein and Lisa Klein of Hall.
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  An all around athlete, Zelmer ran like the Wind, still
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  holding five PC track records twenty seven years after graduating.
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  She ran a twenty seven point zero in the two
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  hundred meters and took part in records in the four
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  ks one hundred four two four forty eight hundred medley relays.
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  When Salazar retired as the Hall coach the first time
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  following the two thousand and eight season, he talked Zelmer
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  into taking over as coach. He knew she'd do a
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  fine job. She knew her stuff. He said. She had
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  a great work ethic in owning her business, the Study
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  Supper Club in LaSalle, which takes a tremendous amount of time.
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  I think that's why she gave coaching up. She had
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  to choose, and she chose her professional life. Danny had
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  an infectious smile that could lighten up a room, despite
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  life's battles she's faced. Here's a sampling from Facebook from
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  her friends reflecting what made her special. She used her
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  kindness to bring joy to others. She was kind and
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  warm to everyone. Ferrari said, I will always remember her
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  welcoming smile and laugh as kids. Aaron Rovat said she
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  was such a sweet, kind and beautiful human being. Laurie
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  Ann Innes said, Tokin's name, your memory will never die.
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  You were the light that could never fade. Matt Jordan
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  said Danny always seemed to be the happiest, most good
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  hearted person I ever knew. Her kindness and ability to
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  make others smile will never be forgotten. Tina Berger Dolder said,