This is unbelievably sad... 90-year-old Rose Tani was killed Wednesday when a train struck her car at a crossing gate in Lombard, Illinois. During World War II, she and her family were placed in internment camps, first in California than at Topaz in Utah. Her husband Henry Tani headed the San Francisco chapter of the JACL in 1942 and testified before a congressional committee in an attempt to avert the evacuation of the entire Japanese American community from the West Coast.
Lately, however, Rose was best known for being the proud mother of Daniel Tani, an American astronaut on board the International Space Station. Orbiting 200 miles above the Earth, he had to hear the news that his mother had died in the accident through a secure connection from mission control: Crash kills astronaut's mom. More here: Astronaut's mom killed in car-train wreck. The soonest Tani can return from space is late January. His mother's funeral, which is this Saturday, will be taped and beamed up for him to watch in space: Funeral in Space. (Thanks, Marla.)
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