The community of Cypress remembered the life of Cornelius “Chuck” Coronado with a service on Monday, at St. Irenaeus Church.
The community of Cypress remembered the life of Cornelius “Chuck” Coronado with a service on Monday, at St. Irenaeus Church.
Coronado passed away on Oct. 2, at the age of 85. Coronado had grown up in Phoenix, but lived in the Los Alamitos and Cypress area since 1963. After five years in the Rossmoor Highlands neighborhood, Coronado moved to Cypress with his family, where he eventually won a seat on the city council. He served the city from 1980-88.
At the age of 17, he enlisted in the Marine Corp in October of 1944, and served his country in battle on the islands of Okinawa and in Northern China.
After returning from the war, he lived in San Francisco where he enrolled at Healds College of Engineering.
Coronado would later work for McDonnell Douglas in the White Sands New Mexico area, working on early rockets. He would later work for Aerospace Corporation as a project manager, among other duties. He retired from the company after 30 years. He would later become certified in Gonverment Contract Management and Financial Planning.
As a Cypress City Councilman, Coronado served two terms, a limit which he was instrumental in passing. He served on the Board of Directors and later as Trustee with the Long Beach Civic Light Opera and was a 3rd degree Knight of Columbus. He was an active Republican and served on the 39th Congressional District’s United States Service Academy Advisory Board.
He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Adrea, and three children. In his leisure time, he was a history buff who loved to read and travel. He also enjoyed doing handy work around his house. Although his family joked that he would often injure himself in the process.
