Astronaut, siblings remember their mom

When she was having trouble sleeping, Rose Tani would go to church.

The 90-year-old woman often arrived at the First United Church of Lombard around 1:45 a.m. on Tuesdays. But she didn't come to pray. She scrubbed floors, cooked for homeless visitors and tucked them into bed.

A bit of an insomniac, she didn't mind volunteering for the late shift -- from 2 to 7 a.m. -- when her church hosted PADS night, the Public Action to Deliver Shelter program that feeds homeless people and offers them a place to stay overnight.

"Her heart lived here," the Rev. Robert Hatfield said Friday. "Somewhere in Rose's DNA was a caring about people. She sensed God in her life every single minute."

Her life ended Wednesday after Rose drove her Honda Civic around a school bus that had stopped at a Lombard rail crossing. Her car ended up directly in the path of an oncoming freight train and the Lombard resident was killed.

Those who knew her say that type of behavior was out of character for Rose. Two of her children, Christine Tani and Richard Tani, spoke of their beloved mother Friday at the church. Another son, astronaut Dan Tani, sent a message from the International Space Station.

"My mother was a complete joy," Dan Tani said in his message. "Those who knew her will know that words cannot describe her vitality, generosity and warmth. She was my hero. We will all miss her dearly."

"In some ways, we think she's in a good place," Richard Tani said.

The children wanted the world to see the energetic, hard-working and caring human being they knew and loved.

"She lived a pretty quiet and hard-working life," Christine Tani said.

Rose, the daughter of Japanese immigrants, was born into a family of six children near Sacramento, Calif. During her childhood, she worked on her family's farm.

Rose met her future husband, Henry Nobuo Tani, in San Francisco and they married in 1940. They eventually had five children together. Their youngest, Dan, grew up to be an astronaut.

During World War II, the Tani family had been interned by their own government after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. But Rose didn't let hard feelings linger.

"She was very patriotic," Christine said. "She understood that America gave her a lot of opportunities."

The Tani family moved to Lombard in 1964. Rose had built herself a reputation in the community for her church volunteer work, her plentiful garden and her kindness.

A memorial service for Rose will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the First Church of Lombard, 220 S. Main St.

Dan, who has been aboard the International Space Station since October, obviously will not be able to attend.

"He's holding up," Christine said. "NASA is providing a lot of support, but it's hard. He's isolated."

Christine isn't worried that her brother's grief will hinder his work in space. NASA chooses astronauts with the emotional stability to handle tragedy. But Dan is the first astronaut to be alerted of a death in the family while in space.

"He's frustrated, but he's professional," she said. "He has no option but to stay there and do his job."

The family will tape the service for NASA to transmit to Dan later. Dan will be sending his own video contribution to be included in the service.