Berniece Amanda Ondrejka

Berniece Ondrejka, age 102, passed away peacefully at her home on June 4, 2023 with family by her side. Berniece was born March 9, 1921, in Enid, Oklahoma, the only child of Lane and Daisy (Foley) Reynolds.

After graduation from Enid High School in 1939, she worked at the local air force base. It was then she first met her future husband, Joseph Ondrejka, who was stationed there. Shortly after they met, there was a picnic lunch at the base. Young women prepared lunch boxes, but it was a secret as to who made which one. The soldier with the highest bid on the lunch box he wanted would spend the picnic with the woman who had prepared the meal. Berniece tipped Joe off as to which lunch box was hers and they enjoyed a lovely picnic together. But World War II began and they lost track of each other.

Berniece moved to Chicago to work for Northwest Airlines. She also volunteered to help at a nearby military base. At a dance at that base, Berniece and Joe were surprised and delighted to encounter each other again, and they danced through 53 years of marriage together.

After the war ended, they moved to Fairborn, Ohio, where Joe started his career as an aeronautical engineer at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. They designed and built their own house in Enon, Ohio, and raised four children: Deborah, Sharon, Malia and John. Berniece was happy to be a family homemaker, seamstress and chef. She loved sharing her many talents with her children.

Visitation starts at 11:00 am followed by prayers at noon on Saturday, June 10, 2023 at Burcham Tobias Funeral Home, Fairborn, OH.