Bernard Charles Koslosky, Sr.

Bernard C. Koslosky (Kazlauskas) Bernard Charles Kazlauskas was born August 10, 1929 to Julia Kadjeski and Bernard Kazlauskas. Bernie passed away on Valentines Day, 2015 at the age of 85. Bernie grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the second-youngest of seven children. While in grammar school, nuns at the school effected a change of the Kazlauskas family name to Koslosky. In 1948 Bernie joined the U.S. Army (not to be confused with the U.S. Leggy; more about the goofy one-liners later) and worked primarily as a cook. He was eventually stationed at Fort Worden in Western Washington, where he met the young and lovely Joyce Nelene Love. They were married June 30, 1951 and purchased a home in Shoreline, Washington where he lived until his passing. Bernie was a foreman and meat cutter, or, in his words, a Lithuanian pig chopper for an impressive 33 years at Cudahy Bar-S in Seattle. After losing his job at Bar-S due to a labor dispute, he earned a mechanics certificate and put in another 22 years working as a groundskeeper/mechanic at the Broadmoor Country Club in Seattle, retiring only when it became too difficult for his tired legs to negotiate the golf courses slopes. Bernie was a devout Catholic and member of St. Mark Catholic Church in Shoreline. There, he was eager to help in any way he could, offering his services in grounds surveillance during evening religious instruction and, later, as an usher and assistant during Mass. Bernie and Joy raised five children, working hard to put them through parochial schools; enjoying after-church Sunday candy and outings to places like the zoo and the Fun Forest with them, as well as summer trips to the ocean and Mt. Rainier and many other locales around Washington State. Bernie liked food a lot. The family often shared homemade yellow cakes, malts or sundaes on Saturday nights, taters and eggs Sunday mornings, and perfectly-cooked roasts with mashed potatoes and corn and pickles Sunday evenings. It was extremely rare that Dad and Mom missed one of their kids athletic events, and they continued to attend many of their grandchildrens events, as well. Dad wasnt a huge sports fan, but would still find it necessary to go sit in the car if the score of one of his kids games was too close. Bernie was the King of Goofy One-Liners. Etched into the workings of his progenies psyches are such masterpieces as If it aint one damn ting, its anudder; you cant put tanks in da bank and Be it ever so humble, ders no bee like a bumble; all spoken in the clipped Pennsylvanian dialect he never lost. Etched into our memories are the directives, Kout! which is short for look out! and if, say, Mike and Chuck were having a jump-off-the-porch contest, Dad would admonish them loudly to Quit dingin around! Bernie didnt like a lot of music. If you asked him if he wanted to join a game of cards or Life or Monopoly, hed tell you, I dont play games. He enjoyed Judge Judy on occasion, once giving her up for Lent, and liked to wager quarters on The Family Feud, but otherwise, he wasnt much into TV. Bernie loved to relax, take a snoose, and tink. What did Bernie tink about when he was snoosing? God the Father (he prayed often), the wife he adored, the large family he had created and how to best keep them safe. Bernie Koslosky was the definition of unconditional love. There wasnt anything he wouldnt do for his family, as long as he thought it was in our best interest. Throughout our adult lives, Dad made a point of talking to each of us at least weekly, and those calls often included inquiries regarding our cars last oil change date, the tread on our tires or the clearance of our baseboard heaters to, well, anything. As we got older, traditional gift giving went by the wayside, yielding to generous gifts of money from our parents. Dad so loved the look on our faces when we opened those gifts! His greatest peace was surely that he did not have to bury his wife or any of his children. Bernie is survived by his devoted wife of 64 years, Joyce; his brother, John (Peg) Koslosky; his children, Julia (Roy) Briggs, Bernard Chuck Koslosky, Margaret Collins, Michael Koslosky and Kathryn Savelesky; his grandchildren, Sarah, Rebecca, Roy, Caryn, Robert, Marguerite, Benjamin, Kristen, Jacqueline, Emily, Aaron, Stephanie and Nicholas, five great-grandchildren and one great-granddaughter due in June of 2015. He was preceded in death by his parents, Bernard and Julia Koslosky; siblings Hubert, Julia, Marguerite, Evelyn and Thomas and an infant grandson, Joshua. Bernie believed in God. He lived his faith and never doubted in life everlasting, only that he would be worthy of entering the Gates of Heaven. His unyielding love, the example he showed all of us, his faith in God (and his corny one-liners) will live in his children and their children and their children, until we see him again.