Syracuse, NY/Avon, NY:  At age 97, Bernice passed peacefully at home in Avon, NY with family present on Trinity Sunday, June 12, 2022.  She was born on January 22, 1925 in Syracuse, NY to the late Ludwig and Rozalia (Kurtyka) Kobusiak.  In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her husband Edmund W. Romocki in 2015 and her brother Louis Kobusiak in 2010.  Survived by her sister-in-law, Virginia Grosso; by children:  Cynthia (William) Zhe, Matthew (Sandra Bowers) Romocki, Timothy (LaHoma) Romocki, Robert (Linda) Romocki, Peter (Kimberly) Romocki, Stephen (Julie Mersereau) Romocki, and Cathleen (Mark) Santus; 20 grandchildren – Jeremy Zhe-Heimerman, Elizabeth, Jonathan, and Michael Zhe; Rozalia and Moses Romocki; Seth, Trista, and Luke Romocki; Sean, Chloe, Skylar, Zoe, and Karis Romocki; Alaina and Daniel Romocki; Hannah, Kathryn, James, and Bennett Santus; 11 great-grandchildren – Henry, Helen, Addie, Frederick, Gloria, Isaac, Willa, River, Remi, Sunny, and Evanthia Bernice; also survived by many other loving family and friends.

Bernice was a lifelong communicant of Sacred Heart Church in Syracuse.  She graduated from Central High School in 1943 and proceeded to work at the Onondaga Hotel.  She also helped her father tend bar at the Polish Army Veterans’ Club on Genesee Street.  She hated working there on Friday nights because she came home smelling like fried fish.  She met the love of her life, Edmund (“Keggie”), on a Syracuse bus and they were married in 1949; a marriage which would last 66 years.  The marriage was blessed with seven children.  Over the span of more than a decade, there was always at least one child in diapers, the cloth kind and no diaper service.  She was a devout Catholic and took all the children to church and ensured they received the sacraments.   The family would take up an entire pew on Sunday at Sacred Heart.  She dedicated herself to her husband and her children during their formative years ensuring that all the kids learned to swim (a skill she regretted never learning), touch-type on a typewriter, and complete their high school and college educations.  She began her second career, once her youngest was in elementary school, in the Syracuse City School District working as a roving secretary in the principals’ offices of several schools for over 20 years. With retirement, Keggie and Bernice were free to travel extensively up and down the east coast.  They especially enjoyed visits to the seashore in Maine, Maryland’s eastern shore, and the Outer Banks.  These trips often included their children and grandchildren.  Both Keggie and Bernice were dedicated to service at the Sacred Heart Food Pantry.  Bernice was an expert cook and was always looking for and sharing new recipes.  Her legacy of Polish cooking has been carried down through her children and grandchildren.  She loved tending her flower gardens in Syracuse.

Calling hours will be at 9:00 AM, Tuesday, August 2, 2022 prior to mass at Most Holy Rosary Catholic Church, 111 Roberts Ave., Syracuse, NY 13207 where Bernice’s funeral mass will be held at 10 AM.  Interment will take place at the Onondaga Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Syracuse, NY.  In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made in her memory to the Sacred Heart Food Pantry, 927 Park Ave., Syracuse, NY  13204,  or Livingston County Hospice, 2 Murray Hill Drive, Mt. Morris, NY 14510.  To send a condolence or share a memory please visit:  www.doughertyfuneralhomes.com  and/or https://hollisfuneralhome.com/