Nathaniel A. Rehbein, 17, passed away in a car accident on Saturday, November 28^th, at 3:22 a.m.  He was found less than a half mile away from his house. 

According to the Dodge County Sheriff’s Department, Nathaniel, also known as Nate Strobel, was not wearing a seat belt and his speed might have been a factor. 

Falling asleep at the wheel is the current theory as to why this tragedy occurred.  The department said that the car lost control, went into a ditch, hit a culvert, flipped and landed upside down. 

The crash is still under investigation. No other cars were involved.

According to Weston Klink, Nate, a junior at Hartford High School, was funny, outgoing and an easy person to be around. He had many friends who loved his personality. 

Nate enjoyed playing on Hartford’s Varsity soccer team as a midfielder was a pastime. He also raced cars at Slinger Speedway.  He was named Rookie of the Year for the track’s Slinger Bee’s division in 2008.  He planned on going to MSOE to build race car chassis.  His dad stated this to the Journal Sentinel.

He had two brothers and one sister and parents.

Weston Klink, a close friend of Nate’s, and a junior at Hartford, said, “It wasn’t his time to go…he had so much ahead of him.”

According to Lindsey Hucke, senior at Arrowhead, “He will be missed dearly by everyone he knew.  He was a really nice guy.”

 “I sat next to him in creative writing.  We were gonna start a new story on Monday and I was the only one in the class to know what he was going to write.  He never will finish his story…” states Weston Klink.