Carroll E. Heatherly v. Midwest Specialized

BEAM, Circuit Judge.

On the afternoon of June 26, 1999, Carroll Heatherly, his wife Margaret Heatherly, and their four children Thomas, Brigid, Meg, and Patrick, embarked in a motor home on a vacation trip to Yellowstone National Park from their home in Lisle, Illinois. Tragically, the trip ended in Nebraska with the death of Margaret, and serious injury to Carroll. This personal injury and wrongful death litigation ensued.

Heatherly, individually and in his capacity as independent administrator of the estate of his deceased wife, appeals the district court’s grant of judgment as a matter of…