July 09, 1991|By Kenan Heise.
Rose A. Cernan, 88, who lived for many years in Bellwood, was the mother of former astronaut Eugene Cernan, commander of the Apollo 17 moon landing in December 1972 and the last man to have walked on the moon.
A resident since 1978 of Bremerton, Wash., she died Sunday in a retirement home in Poulsbo, Wash.
In an interview during one of her son's flights, she compared the thrill of learning of his steps in space to witnessing his first ones as a child.
Mrs. Cernan worried, prayed and exulted as her son completed three space trips. The first, a Gemini flight, was in 1966. The second, the Apollo 10, orbited the moon in 1969 and prepared for the first landing by Apollo 11.
''She was a mother's mother,'' her son said. ''She was the kind of person who put you first and herself second. People who got to know her loved her.
''Mom was always doing something for somebody. She came from a Czech background, one that made her a devout Catholic and gave her a strong belief in the family,'' Eugene Cernan said.
Mrs. Cernan was born in Chicago, but spent most of her adult years in Broadview, Maywood and Bellwood, where she worked at Jefferson Electric Co. Through her work, she helped put her son and a daughter, Dolores Riley, through college.
Survivors, besides her son and daughter, include four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Mass for Mrs. Cernan will be said at 10 a.m. Thursday in St. Simeon Catholic Church, Butterfield Road and Bellwood Avenue, Bellwood.
July 09, 1991|By Kenan Heise.
Rose A. Cernan, 88, who lived for many years in Bellwood, was the mother of former astronaut Eugene Cernan, commander of the Apollo 17 moon landing in December 1972 and the last man to have walked on the moon.
A resident since 1978 of Bremerton, Wash., she died Sunday in a retirement home in Poulsbo, Wash.
In an interview during one of her son's flights, she compared the thrill of learning of his steps in space to witnessing his first ones as a child.
Mrs. Cernan worried, prayed and exulted as her son completed three space trips. The first, a Gemini flight, was in 1966. The second, the Apollo 10, orbited the moon in 1969 and prepared for the first landing by Apollo 11.
''She was a mother's mother,'' her son said. ''She was the kind of person who put you first and herself second. People who got to know her loved her.
''Mom was always doing something for somebody. She came from a Czech background, one that made her a devout Catholic and gave her a strong belief in the family,'' Eugene Cernan said.
Mrs. Cernan was born in Chicago, but spent most of her adult years in Broadview, Maywood and Bellwood, where she worked at Jefferson Electric Co. Through her work, she helped put her son and a daughter, Dolores Riley, through college.
Survivors, besides her son and daughter, include four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Mass for Mrs. Cernan will be said at 10 a.m. Thursday in St. Simeon Catholic Church, Butterfield Road and Bellwood Avenue, Bellwood.
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