Lorrie Cerny, first-grade teacher at South Park Elementary, is honored as Family Readiness Volunteer of the Year at 412th Engineer Command Headquarters. Maj. Gen. Richard E. Coleman, commander, announced the award at a meeting Saturday. (The Vicksburg Post/C. TODD SHERMAN)

[04/11/01] Lorrie Cerny, the wife of one of the officers at the 412th Engineer Command of Vicksburg, has been honored as the Volunteer of the Year by the Family Readiness Group.

The group is made up of the spouses and other family members of the 412th, which is a major unit of the U.S. Army Reserves. The organization’s function is to support the mission of the 412th primarily by helping family members ,especially when the 412th member has to be out of town.

Cerny is the wife of Maj. Larry Cerny, who is assigned by the Army as a full-time member of the 412th. In that post, Maj. Cerny is in charge of the unit’s engineering projects throughout the world, with an emphasis on the work it does in Korea.

Mrs. Cerny is a first-grade teacher at South Park Elementary School, and she and her husband have three children.

The members of the Family Readiness Group undertake a range of activities for the unit, including putting on an annual Christmas program and a telephone tree to rally help when it is needed.

“She has gone way beyond what is needed,” said Maj. Melody Herrington, a spokesman for the 412th. “She has gone out of her way to be of a service to the unit.”

Originally from South Dakota, the Cerny family has been in Vicksburg for about three years.