EPD: Skokie man’s death at St. Francis was suicide

The death of a Skokie man whose body was found earlier this month under a parking garage at St. Francis Hospital has been ruled a suicide, police said Monday.

The body of Wayne Poteracki, 47, was found April 12 lying in a pool of blood at the loading dock of St. Francis, 355 Ridge Ave., under the seven-story garage. Medical examiners completed their investigation and declared the death a suicide late last week, said Deputy Chief Joe Bellino of Evanston Police Department.

Poteracki’s car was parked on the top level of the garage the day his body was found. There were no witnesses to the suicide.

A person driving south on the hospital’s service driveway found the body and called EPD.

Poteracki was visiting a doctor about a minor medical problem at the hospital’s Professional Building adjacent to St. Francis, Richard Poteracki, Wayne’s father, told The Daily earlier this month.

Wayne Poteracki was not married and lived with his parents in their Skokie home. He graduated in 1979 from Notre Dame University, where he studied business, his father said. After graduation, Poteracki worked as a stockbroker at the Chicago Board of Options Exchange.

— Marissa Conrad