This obituary is a part of a collection about individuals who have died within the coronavirus pandemic. Examine others right here.Joseph Kernan, a
This obituary is a part of a collection about individuals who have died within the coronavirus pandemic. Examine others right here.
Joseph Kernan, a naval aviator who served almost a 12 months as a prisoner of struggle after he was shot down over North Vietnam in 1972, then returned to Indiana to function a preferred mayor, lieutenant governor and governor, died on Wednesday in South Bend, Ind. He was 74.
He had been in poor health with Alzheimer’s illness for a number of years, however the quick reason behind dying, in an assisted care facility, was issues of the novel coronavirus, his spouse, Maggie Kernan, stated.
The son of a World Battle II naval aviator, Mr. Kernan joined the Navy in 1969 after graduating the 12 months earlier than with a bachelor’s diploma in authorities from the College of Notre Dame.
After coaching as a flight officer and in reconnaissance, he was deployed to Southeast Asia aboard the plane service Kitty Hawk in February 1972. On Might 7, of that 12 months, his RA-5C Vigilante, a supersonic assault spy aircraft on a mission to report harm from an earlier bombing, was downed by enemy antiaircraft fireplace.
A couple of month later, the Navy knowledgeable Lieutenant Kernan’s household {that a} search and rescue mission had discovered no proof of a crash, however that different sources had reported that two parachutes had descended right into a populated space of Thanh Hoa.
Lieutenant Kernan and his co-pilot, Cmdr. Ron Polfer, had certainly parachuted to security however had been taken prisoner. He was held for 11 months, together with a time period on the infamous Hoa Lo Jail, recognized to captured Individuals because the Hanoi Hilton.
When the US withdrew from the combating in 1973, and prisoners have been launched, he continued on lively obligation with the Navy till December 1974.
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, two Purple Hearts and the Navy Commendation Medal.
Mr. Kernan was employed by Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, then returned to Indiana the place he labored for the South Bend Group Colleges and a number of other space firms. In 1980, he was appointed metropolis comptroller.
In 1987, Mr. Kernan, a Democrat, was elected mayor of South Bend, with financial growth close to the highest of his agenda. When he was elected to his third four-year time period, he received a report 82 % of the vote and have become town’s longest-serving mayor on the time.
The next 12 months, with Gov. Evan Bayh, a Democrat, ineligible to hunt re-election due to time period limits, Frank O’Bannon named Mr. Kernan as his working mate for lieutenant governor on the Democratic ticket. Each have been elected. (Mr. O’Bannon had been lieutenant governor beneath Governor Bayh.)
As lieutenant governor, Mr. Kernan centered on tax reform, job creation and problems with particular concern to veterans and farmers.
Re-elected in 2000, he assumed the governor’s job in September 2003 when Mr. O’Bannon died at 73 after having a stroke. Mr. Kernan then named Kathy Davis, a state and Indianapolis official, as lieutenant governor, making her the primary lady to carry that job. He made strides in enhancing kindergarten and neighborhood school schooling.
He sought a full time period in 2004 however misplaced to the Republican, Mitch Daniels, and returned to personal life. He taught political science at Notre Dame and was president and managing investor of the South Bend Silver Hawks, then a farm membership of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was instrumental in preserving the membership, now often called the South Bend Cubs, on the town.
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Up to date July 27, 2020
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Is the coronavirus airborne?
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Does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 occur?
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Within the 2011 South Bend mayoral election, Mr. Kernan endorsed Pete Buttigieg, who went on to serve eight years in Metropolis Corridor earlier than working for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
Joseph Eugene Kernan III, the oldest of 9 youngsters, was born on April 8, 1946, in Chicago. After World Battle II, his father offered auto and restaurant provides, then, in 1965, helped kick off Upward Sure, a federally funded program to assist underserved highschool college students put together for school. Mr. Kernan’s mom, Marian (Powers) Kernan, labored as a communications consultant, together with for the Chesapeake and Potomac Phone Firm, the place she dealt with the Pentagon account.
The household moved to South Bend when Joe was 10. When he went to varsity, he was in a position to afford tuition by enrolling within the Reserve Officers Coaching Corps.
Along with his spouse, Maggie (McCullough) Kernan, a senior vp of 1st Supply Financial institution, whom he married in 1974, he’s survived by his brother, Terry; and his sisters Maureen, Barbara, Madeline, Kelly, Jenny and Susan. One other sister, Mary Pat, died three years in the past.