Bernard Joseph “BJ” Bono passed away quietly in his sleep on Thursday May 16, 2024, in Springfield, Missouri at the age of 103.
A graveside service will be held for Bernard at the Lancaster Cemetery, Lancaster, KS at 1:00 p.m. Friday, May 24, 2024. Bernard has been cremated under the direct care of the Becker-Dyer-Stanton Funeral Home, Atchison, Kansas. In Lieu of flowers memorial contributions are suggested to Disabled American Veterans and may be sent in care of the Becker-Dyer-Stanton Funeral Home. Condolences for the family may be left online at www.beckerdyer.com.
Bernard was born on December 9, 1920, in Monroe County, MO. The son of Charles and Anna Bono. While still very young his family moved to Weld Country, CO. BJ grew up on a farm within sight of the Rocky Mountain National Park where his family farmed 320 acres with horses and mules and his father engaged in irrigated farming.
After graduating high school Bernard joined the U.S. Army at the age of 19 on April 18, 1939, at Fort Logan, Colorado. BJ was involved in building landing strips in Panama and was there when Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941. While sailing from Panama to Belize to construct landing fields his ship was sunk by U-Boat 159. Luckily BJ was sleeping on deck when the torpedoes hit at 4 a.m. He was able to get aboard a lifeboat and spent 5 days partially dressed in the tropical sun before making landfall north of Panama.
During his tour in France, Luxembourg, Germany, and Czechoslovakia, he was awarded two purple hearts, a bronze star, and a silver star medal. Following the war, BJ was stationed in New Mexico working as an electronic parts inspector for the Fat Man Bomb for the Manhattan Project.
On November 25, 1942, Bernard married Sally K. Sewell. BJ met Sally in Washington D.C., while she was working for the Navy department. The two were married for 74 years and had three children, James, Joanne, and Richard. Sally passed away on January 7, 2016, at the age of 96.
In 1949, he and his wife Sally moved to her father’s small farm in Lancaster. After moving to Lancaster, BJ worked for the Federal Government in Leavenworth, KS at Fort Leavenworth as a technician maintaining radar sites until his retirement in 1980.
Bernard and his wife Sally lived in Lancaster, KS for 50 years. BJ's happiest days were spent in retirement in Lancaster with his wife, working with horses, and telling tall tales with his friends at the Lancaster Oil Company and Coop.
Bernard is preceded by both of his parents, his wife Sally, his son James (1982), brothers William, Gregory, Paul, and Donald, and sisters Francis, Lucille, Alberta, and Louise. Bernard is survived by son Richard Bono, daughter Joanne Deshazo, two grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.
