Army Badge
  • Name: Bernard "Bernie" Francis Kocian
  • Location of Birth: Marble, Minnesota
  • Date of Birth: June 5, 1923
  • Date of Death: February 10, 1993
  • Parents: Frank Kocian & Agnes (Haumschild) Kocian
  • High School and Class: 1941 Greenway High School, Coleraine, Minnesota
  • College:
  • Highest Rank: TEC 4 (Technical 4)
  • Branch: Army
  • Other Branch:
  • Date Sworn In: March 25, 1943
  • Place Sworn In:
  • Date of Discharge: April 18, 1946
  • Place of Discharge:
  • Military Awards:

  • Military Highlights:
    WW II Draft Registration Cards – 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947
    State: Minnesota
    Name: Bernard F. Kocian
    Race: White
    Age: 19
    Birth Date: June 5, 1923
    Birth Place: Marble, Minnesota, USA
    Residence Place: Marble, Itasca, Minnesota, USA
    Registration Date: June 30, 1942
    Employer: F. A. Kocian, Marble, Itasca, Minnesota
    Weight: 140
    Height: 5-8
    Complexion: Light
    Eye Color: Blue
    Hair Color: Brown
    Next of Kin: Mrs. F. A. Kocian, Marble, MN

  • Wars Involved:
    World War II

  • MIA / POW:

  • Civilian Life:
    After Bernie Kocian graduated from high school, he attended the National School of Meat Cutting in Toledo Ohio. He married Joyce Archibald in 1943 in Minnesota. After his discharge from military service, he worked in the grocery store business in New Richmond, Wisconsin. In 1947 he moved to Bigfork and purchased the Red Owl Store which later became Kocian’s Grocery in Bigfork. He was a retired member of the Bigfork Volunteer Ambulance Service; past president and charter member of Bigfork Geese Unlimited Chapter; past member of the Bigfork Community Hospital Board and Knights of Columbus; a member of the Effie American Legion, Bigfork Community Golf Association, Minnesota Grocers Association, National Federation of Independent Businesses, Minnesota Meat Processors Association, National Association of Meat Processors; a charter member and organizer of the Bigfork Firemen’s Relief Association; and life member of National Rifle Association.

    Bernie died in Maui, Hawaii and is buried in Bigfork Cemetery, Bigfork, Minnesota. He is survived by his wife, Joyce; two daughters, Marilyn Bueckers and Kathryn Burzlaff; two sons, Michael and Patrick; two sisters, Agnes Kocian and Ruth Johnson; and twenty grandchildren. He was preceded in death by two brothers, Robert and Gerald.

  • Tribal Affiliation(s):

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