Mother-Grandmother-GreatGrandmother

DOROTHY MARIE CERNECH

Born August 3, 1923 the third of four children born to Harry and Mabel Winegardner.  She was a 1940 graduate of Central High School in Kansas City.  She was employed by Montgomery Wards & Co. prior to being married and gave birth to 3 sons John C Cernech of Omaha, NE; Terrence D Cernech of Ozark, MO; and Richard D Cernech of Deltona, FL.  All of whom survive.  Also surviving are 3 daughter-in-laws Elisabeth Cernech, Parkland, Florida; Sue Cernech, Ozark; and Beverly Cernech, Deltona.  Dorothy was very proud of all of her 9 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren [and more to come . Dorothy is also survived by her brother Lawrence Winegardner of Atchison, Kansas.  Preceding her in death was her younger brother, Walter Winegardner of Kansas City and a older sister Helen Farrimond, of North Kansas City, Mo; as well as her parents and one daughter-in-law, Carol Ann [Meyers] Cernech.  Dorothy was retired from the former Allis-Chalmers in Independence, Mo. where she was employed as an information coordinator in the engineering department.  She also was a former longtime member of St. Ann’s Catholic Community in Fairmont [Independence], MO where she served tirelessly in many capacities with the church and school and also cherished her time as a sacristan.  Among the many things Dorothy did at St. Ann's was to assist in the annual school Carnivals in the church basement which as a boy was always a highlight of the year as I spent most of the day helping where I could or just staying out of the way and then asking for another dollar to play more games.  Which usually ended with me taking more cheap junk home that I thought was really neat and needed like a hole in the head.  Dorothy worked tirelessly ironing altar clothes and strived so hard to make sure there was never a wrinkle so that the altar was always looked perfect.  I particularly remember Holy Thursday services which require what seemed as an enormous amount of time on Dorothy's part to have the sanctuary in a state of a complete immaculate condition.  After cleaning from the top to the floor the ladies of the parish,[which included Dorothy] would proceed to decorating the side altar to a beauty that was just beyond spectacular.  The flowers, the altar cloths,  the ribbons and candles were just such an awe inspiring presentation and a perfect place for the resting of the exposed Eucharist for the evening commemorating the last night Christ spent on earth.  Shortly after Easter would come May Day.  Another very special event in the life of any Catholic in Fairmont.  There would be the process of the statue of the Blessed Virgin from Church around the school grounds and the church.  The statue was always covered in beautiful flowers from the ladies gardens and a crown of flowers were always woven with love and Dorothy was always involved with these type of details.  Of course the statue would come back to  the side altar that Dorothy and Clarence had donated the funds to be built when St. Ann's was originally built.  A brass plaque still marks their contribution today.  Dorothy had lived in Omaha since 1998 remaining on her own until September 2010.   After suffering a series of strokes which cumulated with a large stroke Dorothy was resigned to calling Brookstone Village home until her death August 1, 2013 at 4:21 AM.   Brookstone is a very nice place and took good care of Dorothy with little exception.  Somewhere along the line I will expand upon her time in Brookstone. 

 

Over all life was never really fair to Dorothy.  She was born during the real great depression and after just 10 short years on this earth lost her mother.  She once told me the story of her going to see her mother in the hospital in a new dress she had for a special event.  She had never had a new dress until then.  The hospital was quite a considerable distance and for a small child to make the trip must have been quite an experience.  Her mother dies shortly there after and if memory serve me correctly that was the last time she saw her mom.  After this her father re-married and moved to Oregon [I believe] and left mom, and her two brothers and sister in the Kansas City area.  It is my understanding that mom and her sister Helen kind of just bounced around from home to home until mom was taken in by Tom and Elizabeth May.  The May's had a paper route with the Kansas City Times and Star and a candy store connected with the Maywood Theater where mom would work in the evenings during High School.  Maywood was or is a small community between Independence and Kansas City, Missouri.   Mom would take the trolley or cable car and then a bus and then walk the last blocks to the store and do her homework in between customers.  Dorothy was very proud of the High School diploma  she earned.  Something which was regarded in the 40's much like a college diploma is today.

 

I have so many memories of Dorothy that I will continue this blog through the future and hopefully be able to document a considerable portion of this amazing woman life..