Lipinski Staff Member Zac Plantz Dies In Thanksgiving Car Crash

FRANKFORT, IL — An aide to Congressman Dan Lipinski died in a car crash early Thanksgiving morning in Naples, Fla. Zac Plantz, 27, managed Lipinski’s 2020 primary campaign and was the congressman's senior policy director at the time of his death. .

The Naples Daily News reported that Plantz was the driver of a Mercedes-Benz when his car collided with the rear of a semi-truck that was making a U-turn on the roadway. The crash happened around 2 a.m. Nov. 26. Plantz was pronounced dead at the scene. The accident remains under investigation, Naples police said.

Lipinski announced Plantz’s death on Facebook, stating the “world has lost an incredible young man whose life was tragically cut too short.”

“After I brought Zac into my campaign last year, I quickly learned what a gifted young man he was and made him my Campaign Manager. He was a proud Notre Dame graduate who had a contagious energy about him that lifted up those who interacted with him. He was smart, thoughtful, respectful, and charismatic.”

A Frankfort native, Plantz attended Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox. Plantz was a 2015 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where he played for the Fighting Irish rugby team. His brothers, Tyler and Logan, were members of the football team, according to the university’s football team newsletter OneFootDown.

On Sunday, candles in a Notre Dame campus grotto were lit to spell his name — Zac. Plantz was in the midst of running 60 miles in a virtual marathon for Movember, a global charitable organization dedicated to improving men’s mental health. Plantz was a six-year participant and had raised $1,000, which he had doubled when he died. Since his tragic, unexpected death, the Notre Dame community has raised over $27,000 in Planta’s memory. Donations can be made here.

Plantz leaves his parents, Ron and Laura, siblings Logan, Tyler, and Abby, his girlfriend Kathleen and many extended family members and friends.