Bernard John Lednicky

August 9, 1939 – November 15, 2025

Bernard Lednicky

Bernard was born at home on August 9^th, 1939, in the central Texas town of West. He was the 4^th son of six children for George and Rosie (Gerik) Lednicky. As a child, he made extra money for the family by delivering ice, tending honeybees, and picking cotton in the summer before graduating from West High School in 1957. Ater high school, he found work assembling furniture for a company in Waco, Texas until he was drafted into the United States Army in 1962. He travelled from east to west coast during training, and was stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, just south of Seattle, for the last six months of duty, and during the rainy, cold winter months; he swore he would never return.  Bernard reached the rank of SP4 as a Communications Specialist and was honorably discharged in 1964.

Shortly after being discharged, Bernard met his future wife, Sylvia Eiland, of West, Texas. They were wed in 1965 at St Mary Catholic Church in their hometown. Prior to the wedding, Bernard began working for Texas Instruments (TI) in Dallas building parts for advanced military systems such as precise lenses and prisms used in radar technology. They moved from Dallas to Plano, Texas in 1969 and then to Parker, Texas in 1978. TI sold its defense business to Raytheon in 1997, where Bernard retired in 2006 after 40 years.

Bernard and his wife Sylvia spent the first 15 years of retirement travelling around the country in their RV, including visiting their children in the Pacific Northwest. At home, Bernard enjoyed vintage car shows, and took up a hobby of repairing old bicycles, often found discarded and in the trash. He was a diehard Dallas Cowboys fan. Every Labor Day weekend for over 35 years, he and Sylvia made a pilgrimage to the West Fest to enjoy Czech polka music, dancing, beer, and of course kolaches (which were never as good as his mother Rosie’s).  Bernard was a gentle, kind, and outgoing soul who loved all animals and children (and they loved him in return).

In January of 2025, Bernard and Sylvia sold the house they had lived in for 47 years and moved from Parker, Texas to Seattle, Washington to be closer to their children in the Pacific Northwest. They moved into a senior living community in the Ballard neighborhood where Bernard enjoyed watching crowds of people, children, and dogs at the adjacent Sunday farmers market, attending happy hour on Tuesdays and Fridays, and watching evening movies with his new friends.

Bernard is preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Raymond, Larry, and Robert Lednicky, sister JoAnn Dubiel, and an infant sister, Rose Mary Gerik. As if in solidarity, Bernard passed away less than 24 after his youngest sister, JoAnn.

Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Sylvia Lednicky; his daughter, Leanne Mitchell and spouse Kimberly Shotz of Portland, Oregon; his son, Gregory Lednicky of Seattle, Washington, sisters-in-law, Nicole Lednicky of West, Texas, and Frances Lednicky of Waco, Texas, and many nieces, nephews, other relatives, and friends.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.