Bill Cervenka

William Frank "Bill" Cervenka, age 98, of Waco, died on Saturday, July 31, 2021 of natural causes in Waco. Funeral services will be held 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, August 4, 2021 at the Waco Memorial Park Mausoleum Chapel with Larry Cervenka officiating and will include Military Honors. Due to covid concerns from the family, Bill will not have a visitation but will lie-in-state on Tuesday from 12 noon to 7:00 p.m. at Aderhold Funeral Home in West. Bill was born on July 13, 1923, in Calvert, to the late Rudolf and Marie Cervenka, the second of their four sons. He grew up and graduated from George West High School in Texas. After Pearl Harbor, he attended the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York, in 1942. He served on several Liberty and other cargo ships from 1942 to 1947, first as a cadet in the engine room and later as a Chief Engineer. He sailed ships in both the Atlantic and the Pacific, as well as the Bearing Sea, Persian Gulf, and the Mediterranean Sea. Bill was ready to make the sea his lifetime career but took a short vacation and met his dream girl, Helen Renfro, in Texas, whom he married in 1947. He worked at Texas Power and Light in Waco for a year, and then worked as a power plant engineer at General Tire and Rubber Company for 31 years. He took early retirement when he was 60 years old when Helen became very ill. They were able to take many vacation trips over the world, until she died in 1988. He then met and married Margaret Brown in 1989, and they lived in Mexia for 16 years where they enjoyed dancing and fishing until she died in 2005. Bill was also preceded in death by two brothers, Rudolph Cervenka and Edward Cervenka. Survivors include his four sons, Larry W. Cervenka and wife Jan of Corsicana, Edward R. Cervenka and wife Ping of Austin, Norman L. Cervenka of Waco, and Kenneth J. Cervenka and wife Marilyn in Virginia; step daughter, Valerie Hathaway of Mexia; a brother, Robert Cervenka and wife Jo of Riesel; a sister-in-law, Sally Cervenka of Terlingua; grandchildren, Kevin Cervenka, David Cervenka and wife Danielle, and Fei Yang and wife Linna; and great-grandchildren, Mattie Cervenka, Benjamin Cervenka, Abe Cervenka, Edwin Yang, Samantha Yang, and Neely Cervenka; and many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the American Cancer Society or the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Association and Foundation, Inc. at www.usmmaalumni.com. A special thank you to Providence Hospice for the great care they gave Bill in his final months. You are invited to share your thoughts and memories of Bill in our memorial guest book found at www.aderholdfuneralhome.com. Aderhold Funeral Home in West is in charge of arrangements.