Obituaries : Laddie George Bocek; Korean War Veteran

Laddie George Bocek, a Ventura resident and Korean War veteran, died July 15 of a stroke. He was 67.

Born in Chicago, Bocek married his first wife, Florence, a nurse, in 1948. He was drafted into the Korean War in 1951 and served in the army’s 1st Cavalry for two years.

After the war, Bocek worked as a laborer for the Griffith Steel Co. in Chicago. He moved to California in 1960 and first settled in Pasadena, where he worked as a custodian in a convalescence home. Bocek moved to Ventura in the early 1970s and worked several jobs, including a stint at the Point Mugu Navy base, as a warehouse worker at the former Fedco store in Oxnard, and as a groundskeeper and maintenance man for real estate businessman Martin Smith in Oxnard.

His fourth wife, Toby, died in 1991 after more than 20 years of marriage.

“When she died, a piece of him died too,” said Bocek’s son, Griffith. “You could say he died of a broken heart. He lost his will to live.”

In his free time, Bocek like to make small, plastic models of classic cars.

“He was a very quiet and reserved man,” Griffith said. “He was very patient and understanding.”

Bocek is also survived by a second son, Anton, who lives in Carpinteria.