Mr. Edward George Cerny

Mr. Edward George Cerny was a modest man, quiet and observant in his ways. He was trustworthy and traditional in his approach to his life and in his relationships. He was tough-minded with the kind of “stick to it” attitude that earned the respect of all who knew him. He was also a man who was meticulous, carefully disciplined, and orderly in virtually everything he undertook. Realistic about life, he was always at the ready, prepared to take on responsibility.

Edward was born on November 6th, 1921, at home in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were Charles and Clara Cerny. Edward was raised in Berwyn, Illinois. He was brought up to be self-confident and dependable. These were traits that would serve him well throughout his life.

Growing up in the Cerny household was a bit different than most homes. There were good times to be had, but just as often there was a fair share of challenges as well. However, Edward was able to work through the usual family problems when they appeared, and he was the one person in the family who seemed able to keep the stress at bay. Edward was raised with four siblings. He had a sister Clara and three brothers, Chuck, Joe, and Clarence. Edward was constantly involved in activities with his brothers and sisters. Edward and his siblings may have had the typical rivalries while growing up but Edward was always consistently loyal to his family.

As a young child, Edward was never someone who needed to be the center of attention. He wasn’t pushy and never forced his way into games or other activities. Edward developed a variety of interests, though, and the things he enjoyed doing he did well. He was always curious about the world around him and was often eager to explore it. Edward took part in baseball, marbles and knifey. He was a Boy Scout. He liked to work at the grocery store, caddy at the Riverside Golf Club, sell pop at ball games and set pins at the bowling alley. However, what Edward enjoyed most was simply playing and spending time with his many friends.

While his teachers and even his friends generally thought of Edward as being a serious person, he managed to have a pretty good time in high school as he made that critical transition from adolescence to adulthood. He graduated from what is now Morton East in Cicero (there was no Morton West back then) in 1941. He enjoyed some courses more than others, having favorite classes and teachers. His favorite class in high school was math, especially trigonometry. The teacher he enjoyed learning from the most was his Sunday School teacher. Edward was a very logical person who enjoyed learning about factual information. Using his exceptional memory, he was able to learn much through observation. Edward always seemed to have a command of the facts and was able to make it seem as though he could easily master any problem that might be presented to him.

College life brought with it a new set of challenges, but Edward handled them well. Being a critical thinker who always remained intellectually independent, Edward was able to focus on the task at hand in order to complete his class work. He seemed to thrive on college reading assignments, something that often bogged down his classmates. Edward was able to read the material and retain the information in a way that impressed his fellow classmates. The ability to efficiently complete the task at hand was a skill that served Edward well during his college experience. His favorite courses were in mathematics. He liked to play chess.

Always considered to be a solid friend, Edward was fortunate to have numerous acquaintances and several very close friends during his life. Since he disliked making generalizations about people and preferred to draw his own conclusions based on direct observation, Edward was able to see beneath the surface of relationships and became a true friend to those who knew him. He was committed to his friends and valued the trust he placed in them. It was not uncommon for Edward to go beyond the call of duty for others, and friends frequently sought him out for advice because he had a knack for coming up with practical solutions to any type of dilemma. While growing up, some of his best friends were Bob and Irv Studney, Frank and Joe Smetana and Joe Trisina.

On September 20th, 1947 Edward exchanged wedding vows with Diane Louise Kilroy at the First Baptist Church of Berwyn, Illinois. Compassionate and devoted to Diane, Edward held endearing, traditional values about marriage and family life. He took the responsibility of marriage to heart, giving it his total commitment. He was a source of strength to Diane and using his gifts at nurturing one-on-one relationships, he worked hard to make his new family happy.

Edward brought the same traditional values in his marriage to bear on how he raised his children. He was a good parent to them, always firm yet fair in his dealings. He would always listen carefully and think things through before he acted, even when it was an adverse situation. Edward was also a walking schedule, always seeming to know what everyone in the family needed to do, where they needed to be and when they needed to be there. Edward was blessed with three children, one son, Patrick, and two daughters, Peggy and Debbie. They were also blessed with six grandchildren, Sarah, Nathan, Lauren, Victoria, Katerine and Elizabeth.

Edward greatly enjoyed what he did for a living. He was a hard worker who expected the same in return from his co-workers. He was skilled at working effectively in small groups and in one-on-one situations as well as handling solo assignments efficiently. Edward enjoyed dealing with concrete ideas and could penetrate any amount of fuzzy information to reach the essential facts. Always able to attend to the task at hand, Edward was excellent at meeting deadlines. He was an efficient worker, one who paid careful attention to detail, allowing sufficient time to complete one task before moving on to the next. His primary occupation was being the best repairman in the area in appliance sales and service in the business he owned, Cerny's Service, for ten years. He was employed for five years at Electro Motive, and for forty five years at AAA Ogden/Harry's House. Edward worked hard to be a team player, doing what was necessary in order to get the job done.

Edward was an Army Veteran. He was in the Pacific Theater in WWII. Edward saw action as an anti-tank crewman in the Infantry from 1942 to 1945 at Guadalcanal, the Phillipines, the Solomon Islands and in New Guinea. Through his hard work and dedication, he achieved the rank of Private First Class. He received praise for his valor, including being awarded the Victory Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Theater, with three Bronze Stars, Phillipine Liberation Ribbon with one Bronze Battle Star, Good Conduct Medal, Expert and Combat Infantry Badges. A literal thinker who possessed a calm exterior, Edward seemed to enjoy the routines set forth by the military. His results-oriented approach to things made him committed to the job, and he understood well his role in serving his country.

Edward liked to experience things first-hand as well as learn about them. This trait carried over into his hobbies, where he was very methodical in how he organized his activities and categorized things. Since he enjoyed his private time, Edward always tried to allocate a specific time for working on his hobbies. His favorite pursuits were playing golf, golf and more golf! And fishing when he couldn't play golf. Edward was content to enjoy his hobbies alone but was also willing to share his interests with others.

Edward found pleasure in sports. Being a person who was comfortable making win/lose decisions throughout life, he could appreciate that athletes made those types of decisions in sports. He applauded those who won, and he enjoyed the statistical data and sports facts and could find himself wrapped up in those details. Recreational sports included golfing, swimming, badminton, camping and fishing. He would watch his favorite sporting events whenever he got the opportunity. Tops on his list were golf, football, baseball and basketball.

Many organizations were grateful to have Edward as a member, since he always brought with him a “stick to it” attitude and a high degree of common sense. Using straightforward methods to successfully complete the job, Edward was a great planner who was incredibly well organized. It seemed that he was able to schedule any event or activity with ease. He always seemed to know exactly what needed to be done. Throughout his later years, Edward was a past president of the Stickney/Forest View Lions Club and a member of the VFW.

Edward was a lover of animals and cherished his pets. Edward’s favorites were his dogs; Teddy for fifteen years, Geronimo for seventeen years and his last dog Peppe.

Mr. Edward George Cerny passed away on June 26th, 2010 at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, Illinois. He is survived by his wife Diane, son Patrick, daughters Peggy Cuvala and Debbie Zloch, grandchildren Sarah Giesy, Nathan Cuvala, Lauren Cuvala, Victoria Zloch and Katerine Zloch, and his great-grandchildren Dillon, Ashton and Arin.

Commitment is a key word that can be used to describe the life of Mr. Edward George Cerny. He was committed to living the life of a good man who was both practical and trustworthy. He was committed to the traditional values that he upheld his entire life. He committed himself to being a hard worker who expected the same effort in return from those around him. Most of all, he was committed to those he knew and loved.