PoliticalGraveyard.com
The Political Graveyard: A Database of American History
Kerner-Cermak family of Chicago, Illinois

Note: This is just one of 1,130 family groupings listed on The Political Graveyard web site. These families each have three or more politician members, all linked together by blood, marriage or adoption.

These groupings — even the names of the groupings, and the areas of main activity — are the result of a computer algorithm working with the data I have, not the choices of any historian or genealogist.

  Anton Joseph Cermak (1873-1933) — also known as Anton J. Cermak; "Pushcart Tony" — of Chicago, Cook County, Ill. Born in Kladno, Bohemia (now Czechia), May 9, 1873. Democrat. Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Illinois, 1924, 1928, 1932; candidate for U.S. Senator from Illinois, 1928; mayor of Chicago, Ill., 1931-33; died in office 1933. Bohemian ancestry. On February 15, 1933, while he was standing on the running board of an open car from which president-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt had just given a speech, was shot and badly wounded by Italian-American bricklayer Guiseppe Zangara, who had aimed for Roosevelt; over the next month, the wound became infected, and he died, in Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, Dade County (now Miami-Dade County), Fla., March 6, 1933 (age 59 years, 301 days). Entombed at Bohemian National Cemetery, Chicago, Ill.
  Relatives: Father of Helena I. Cermak (who married Otto Kerner, Jr. (1908-1976)) and Lillian Cermak (who married Richey V. Graham).
  Political family: Kerner-Cermak family of Chicago, Illinois.
  Cermak Road (formerly 22nd Street), from Chicago to Oak Brook, Illinois, is named for him.  — The World War II Liberty ship SS A. J. Cermak (built 1943, scrapped 1964) was named for him.
  Epitaph: "I Am Glad It Was Me, Instead of You."
  See also Wikipedia article — NNDB dossier
  Otto Kerner (1884-1952) — of Chicago, Cook County, Ill.; River Forest, Cook County, Ill. Born in Chicago, Cook County, Ill., February 22, 1884. Democrat. Lawyer; alternate delegate to Democratic National Convention from Illinois, 1920; circuit judge in Illinois, 1927-31; Illinois state attorney general, 1933-38; Judge of U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, 1939. Member, American Bar Association; Freemasons; Knights Templar; Shriners; Elks. Died December 13, 1952 (age 68 years, 295 days). Interment at Bohemian National Cemetery, Chicago, Ill.
  Relatives: Father of Otto Kerner, Jr. (1908-1976).
  Political family: Kerner-Cermak family of Chicago, Illinois.
  Richey V. Graham — of Cicero, Cook County, Ill. Democrat. Served in the U.S. Army during World War I; member of Illinois state house of representatives; elected 1928; member of Illinois state senate 19th District; elected 1930, 1934; alternate delegate to Democratic National Convention from Illinois, 1936; candidate in primary for U.S. Representative from Illinois 6th District, 1938. Member, American Legion; Forty and Eight; American Bar Association; Phi Alpha Delta; Freemasons; Elks. Burial location unknown.
  Relatives: Married, June 23, 1917, to Lillian Cermak (daughter of Anton Joseph Cermak (1873-1933)).
  Political family: Kerner-Cermak family of Chicago, Illinois.
  Otto Kerner, Jr. (1908-1976) — of Glenview, Cook County, Ill.; Chicago, Cook County, Ill. Born in Chicago, Cook County, Ill., August 15, 1908. Democrat. Lawyer; colonel in the U.S. Army during World War II; U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, 1947-54; county judge in Illinois, 1954-60; delegate to Democratic National Convention from Illinois, 1960, 1964; Governor of Illinois, 1961-68; Judge of U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, 1968-74; resigned 1974. Presbyterian. Member, American Bar Association; American Judicature Society; Freemasons; Shriners; Moose; Odd Fellows; Royal Arcanum; Military Order of the World Wars; Alpha Delta Phi; Phi Delta Phi. While serving as Governor, he and another official made a gain of over $300,000 in a stock deal which prosecutors later characterized as bribery. Convicted in 1973 on 17 counts of bribery, conspiracy, perjury, and related charges; sentenced to three years in federal prison and fined $50,000. Died of cancer, May 9, 1976 (age 67 years, 268 days). Interment at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va.
  Relatives: Son of Rose Barbara (Chmelik) Kerner and Otto Kerner; married, October 29, 1934, to Helena I. Cermak (daughter of Anton Joseph Cermak (1873-1933)).
  Political family: Kerner-Cermak family of Chicago, Illinois.
  Cross-reference: Milton Rakove
  See also NNDB dossier
"Enjoy the hospitable entertainment of a political graveyard."
Henry L. Clinton, Apollo Hall, New York City, February 3, 1872
The Political Graveyard

The Political Graveyard is a web site about U.S. political history and cemeteries. Founded in 1996, it is the Internet's most comprehensive free source for American political biography, listing 312,576 politicians, living and dead.
  The listings are incomplete; development of the database is a continually ongoing project.  
  Information on this page — and on all other pages of this site — is believed to be accurate, but is not guaranteed. Users are advised to check with other sources before relying on any information here.  
  The official URL for this page is: https://politicalgraveyard.com/families/12622.html.  
  Links to this or any other Political Graveyard page are welcome, but specific page addresses may sometimes change as the site develops.  
  If you are searching for a specific named individual, try the alphabetical index of politicians.  
  More information: FAQ; privacy policy; cemetery links.  
  If you find any error or omission in The Political Graveyard, or if you have information to share, please see the biographical checklist and submission guidelines.  
Copyright notices: (1) Facts are not subject to copyright; see Feist v. Rural Telephone. (2) Politician portraits displayed on this site are 70-pixel-wide monochrome thumbnail images, which I believe to constitute fair use under applicable copyright law. Where possible, each image is linked to its online source. However, requests from owners of copyrighted images to delete them from this site are honored. (3) Original material, programming, selection and arrangement are © 1996-2019 Lawrence Kestenbaum. (4) This work is also licensed for free non-commercial re-use, with attribution, under a Creative Commons License.
Site information: The Political Graveyard is created and maintained by Lawrence Kestenbaum, who is solely responsible for its structure and content. — The mailing address is The Political Graveyard, P.O. Box 2563, Ann Arbor MI 48106. — This site is hosted by HDL. — The Political Graveyard opened on July 1, 1996; the last full revision was done on March 10, 2021.

Creative 
Commons License Follow polgraveyard on Twitter [Amazon.com]