You will read in many places of Gene Cernan as the last man on the moon. He certainly was that. To me and to all of us in the Village of Bellwood Illinois he was a home town hero. Bellwood is a bedroom community, mostly homes and small manufacturing located 7 miles due west of Chicago. This suburb was much smaller when Cernan would have lived here. Never the less we were all proud of our astronaut. 
 He was joined in that distinction by Lee J Archambault who flew on several space shuttle missions to help construct the ISS. Together they gave this tiny town with hard water a bonified spacefaring tradition. 

 Eugene Cernan is locally commemorated by several parks and the Cernan Space Center of Trition College in River Grove Illinois, a planetarium and museum of Cernan related space memorobillia. 


If there are going to be any commemorations of his life here in Bellwood IL I will update this post to reflect that.

UPDATE.

The Cernan Space Center will dedicate their monthly skywatch to the life of Gene Cernan.


From the website of the Cernan Space Center at Triton College in River Grove IL.

Monthly Skywatch: A Salute to Gene Cernan 

Free Admission

Saturday, Feb. 4, at 6 and 7 p.m. in the Cernan Earth and Space Center. 

Join us for a program recounting the life of a local boy who made it all the way to the moon.

From humble beginnings in Maywood and Bellwood, Captain Eugene Cernan went on to become an accomplished naval aviator and fighter pilot, electrical and aeronautical engineer, and astronaut who traveled into space three times: aboard Gemini 9A, Apollo 10, and Apollo 17. Gene Cernan was a strong advocate for education and space exploration and had hoped to live to see humans return to the surface of the Moon. This program will be a celebration the of life and legacy of the last man on the Moon. 

Admission is free. Donations are welcome. 

Reservations can be made by calling (708) 456-0300, Ext. 3372.

Weather permitting, telescopes will be set up outside for a free public star party from 6:30 to 9 p.m. People of all ages are invited to observe the real sky for themselves: including the Moon, Orion Nebula, Pleiades star cluster and more. Telescopes are provided by the Cernan Earth and Space Center and members of the Chicago Astronomical Society and the Northwest Suburban Astronomers.