Bernard T. York Obituary (1921

Bernard Thomas York passed away of complications from a bone marrow disorder MDS on Friday, September 15, 2017 at Perkins Pavilion in Good Samaritan Society Hastings, NE. A WWII Veteran, Bernard was born August 7, 1921 in Mauch Chunk, PA, (now Jim Thorpe) to Ida Jane Leonard York and Joseph Yaroszeufski York. Upon graduation from high school he enlisted in the Marine Corps in Allentown, PA. He successfully completed Marine training at Parris Island and was sent with a group of marines to open the Naval Ammunition Depot near Hastings, NE. There he served in the motor pool, where he was responsible for jeep repairs, and where he subsequently met his wife, Lorene. From the Naval Depot, he was sent to serve duty in the Pacific Arena at Tinnian and Saipan with the 2nd Marine division. After sustaining injuries in a kamikaze attack onboard ship he was transferred stateside and eventually back to the Hastings area where, as a civilian, he again worked for the Navy and oversaw the motor pool and jeep repair. He was discharged in 1945 and married Lorene Kemper in 1947. They moved into a house in Glenvil where he has lived for the last 70 years. Shortly after marrying Lorene he opened a shop in Glenvil, NE in the downtown area where he did auto repair, and sold paint and appliances. A fire took the building in 1983. He then built a garage on his property adjacent to the house where he continued to work. In his later years (80's and 90's) he loved to repair lawnmowers and other small engines, and did many other small repair projects. He was not happy unless he had something to fix. A celebration of Bernard's life is to be scheduled at a later date at St. Paul's Lutheran Church 6075 Assumption Road Glenvil.NE 68941. Memorial donations be made to the church or to Hastings DAV, 302 South Elm St, Hastings, NE, 68901. The family requests no cards or flowers, please. He is preceded in death by his wife, Lorene Bernice Kemper. Bernard is survived by his daughter, Jane E. York and son-in-law, Jack Williams of Leawood, KS; brother-in-law, Louis Fortini of Turtle Creek, PA; nieces and nephews, Kathy Stapola of Audubon, PA, Louis Fortinet Jr. of Turtle Creek, PA, Toni Lithkouski of Tucson, AZ, Janie Celentano of Smithtown, NY, Roger Kemper of Mead, CO, Linda Montey of Aiea, HI, Gary Kemper of Glenvil, NE, Donna Crossno of Smithville, AK, Francis J. Yaroszeufski of Lehighton, PA, and Lynn York of Tamaqua, PA.