Submitted by: Dan Rich

Sylvia Irene Black

Sept. 1, 1915 - Feb. 22, 2001

South Bend Tribune 2/25/2001

Sylvia Irene Black, 85, residing on Chicago Trail, New Carlisle, Ind., formerly of South Bend, Ind., passed away at 4:45 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22, in the Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center, South Bend. Mrs. Black was born on Sept. 1, 1915, in Saratoga, Ill., as the daughter of James Monroe and Dora Elizabeth (Lence) Cerney, and had lived in the South Bend community since 1936, coming from Anna, Ill.

On June 13, 1936, in Marion, Ill., as Sylvia Cerney, she married Forrest G. Black. Together they have enjoyed nearly 65 years of marriage. She is survived by her loving husband, Forrest; along with three daughters, Glenda I. and Don Stanley, and Peggy J. and Richard Wesolowski, both of Granger, Ind., and Janice K. and Robert Vernia of Carmel, Ind.; three grandchildren, Rhonda Niespodziany of South Bend, Randy Stanley of Mishawaka, Ind., and Tracy Rosenfeld of Palatine, Ill.; three great-grandchildren, Christi, T.J. and Ed Niespodziany, all of South Bend; two sisters, Mamie Sanders of Carbondale, Ill., and Mary Harvel of Marion; and by two brothers, Louie Cerney of Anna and William Cerney.

Mrs. Black was a retired employee of the Uniroyal Corporation in Mishawaka. She was a 50-year member of the Central United Methodist Church, South Bend, and was a member of the Evangel Heights United Methodist Church. As a young girl growing up in southern Illinois, she completed the 8th grade. In 1992 she received her G.E.D., an accomplishment for which she was very, very proud.

Services for Sylvia Black will be at 10 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 26, in the Evangel Heights United Methodist Church, 114 North Ironwood Drive. Rev. Ed Fritz, pastor, will officiate. Entombment will follow at Riverview Cemetery. A gathering to celebrate Sylvia's life will be from 4 to 6 p.m. today in the Palmer Funeral Home, 2528 Mishawaka Avenue, South Bend.