Short answers, pulled from the story.
Gene Cernan was an American astronaut who became the last person to walk on the Moon during the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972. He traveled to space three times and to the Moon twice, and holds the record for the longest total time spent walking on the lunar surface among all Apollo astronauts.
Gene Cernan walked on the Moon during Apollo 17, the final Apollo lunar landing, in December 1972. He and geologist Harrison Schmitt conducted three EVAs between the 11th and the 14th of December 1972 in the Taurus-Littrow valley, totaling about 22 hours of surface exploration.
Cernan's last words spoken from the lunar surface were addressed to capcom Bob Parker: "Bob, this is Gene, and I'm on the surface; and, as I take man's last step from the surface, back home for some time to come - but we believe not too long into the future - I'd like to just (say) what I believe history will record: that America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17."
Cernan holds the record for the most time spent walking on the Moon among all Apollo astronauts. Apollo 17 also collected 110.4 kilograms of geological samples, more than any other Apollo mission, and Cernan drove the Lunar Roving Vehicle to a maximum speed of 11.2 miles per hour, earning him the unofficial lunar land speed record.
After retiring from both the Navy and NASA in 1976, Cernan became Executive Vice President of Coral Petroleum Inc. and later founded The Cernan Corporation in 1981. He covered Space Shuttle launches for ABC, contributed to Good Morning America, and published his memoir The Last Man on the Moon in 1999 with co-author Donald A. Davis.
Cernan grew up in the Illinois towns of Bellwood and Maywood, attended McKinley Elementary School in Bellwood, and graduated from Proviso Township High School in Maywood in 1952. He earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Purdue University in Indiana in 1956 and a Master of Science in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1963.