Funeral Services for Irene Cernoch, age 95, will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, October 4, 2024, at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Weimar. The family will receive friends beginning at 9:15 a.m. from the church with the parish rosary to be recited at 10:30 a.m. Interment will follow the Mass in St. Wenceslaus Catholic Cemetery in Holman.

Irene was a simple farm girl born to Jim and Mary Rosenauer in Moulton, Texas, on June 8, 1929. She passed away on September 24, 2024, in Houston, Texas.   She was one of eight siblings and grew up on a farm in Moulton, attending school in the area until leaving after the 9th grade to help take care of her brothers and sisters.  She married Bennie Cernoch on October 25, 1948, in Holman, Texas.  They settled in Houston, in the Spring Branch area, shortly thereafter, and raised their family there.   Irene was a homemaker for many years, taking care of her four children, Bennie James, Betty, Barbara, & Brian.  Irene and Bennie moved back to the family farm in Holman in 1984.

Irene loved to garden and always had beautiful flowers blooming in her big yard.  She took care of her half acre lawn all by herself until she was almost 80.  She did not abide with critters getting into her flower beds and shrubs, and she had no qualms about killing armadillos and other varmints that she knew were disturbing her precious flowers & landscaping.  One of her proudest moments was when she was awarded the Yard of the Month by the Weimar Mercury.

Irene enjoyed cooking large meals and baking for her family.  She was famous for her chicken fried steak – when we all gathered for big family meals, she would make huge platters of it.  All of us girls have tried to replicate it, but it never tastes as good as hers. She had a magic touch in the kitchen (and always lots of Crisco!).  Her dressing, chocolate chip cookies, and pies (especially her dewberry pie) are all legendary.  All of her recipes were in her head.  You never left Irene's table (or house) hungry.

Irene was a great seamstress.  She sewed impeccably tailored clothes for many of the women in the family.  She even made our Barbie clothes, many times out of tiny scraps of fabric she had left over from making a new dress.  There was nothing she could not make with her old Kenmore sewing machine.

Irene was a woman of faith, always at mass every Saturday evening or Sunday morning or praying the rosary.  She was a kind, compassionate woman with a loving presence.  She was humble, never splurging or living above her means and never wanting to cause a fuss about herself, yet she was also extremely strong; she was the family matriarch.

Irene was preceded in death by her husband, Bennie; her son, Brian; son-in-law, Rocky; sister, Matilda (Tillie); and brothers, Alvin, Harvey, Leroy, and James.  She is survived by her son, Bennie James and his wife Marina; daughter, Betty and her husband Dennis; daughter, Barbara and her husband Jerry; grandchildren, Angela, Kevin, Alex, Mina, Beth, and Cole; great-grandchildren, Ashlynn, Avery, Adam, Nathaniel, Cecilia, Stacy, and Lena. She also is survived by her sister, Shirley; and her brother, Eugene; as well as numerous nieces and nephews and many other beloved family members & friends.

We will always miss her, but she will live on forever in our hearts.

The family would like to extend a special thank you to the staff and caregivers at The Homestead in Weimar and at The Auberge at Vintage Lake in Houston for the kind and loving care given to "Ms. Irene" during the last few years.