Bernard Paul Kozma
PVT in 3132nd Signal Service Co
Born 1924 in NJ, Died 2011
Other residence(s): South River, NJ; Milltown, NJ
United States Army, European Theatre of Operations
College education after the war: Morehead State Univ.
Bernard Kozma was born on December 6, 1924 in South River, NJ, the seventh of eight children. Both of his parents had been born in Hungary; his father was a foreman in a brick company and later an engineer at a defense plant.
He graduated from South River High School in 1942 and registered for the draft on November 26, 1942; at the time he was working for Schweitzer, a paper mill in Spotswood, NJ. He enlisted on March 25, 1943, joining his five older brothers in the military (three in the Army and three in the Navy). He was eventually assigned to the 3132 Signal Service Company, and went to Europe with the unit.
After the war was over (all six brother survived!), he returned to South River and used his GI Bill benefits to study history at Morehead State University in Morehead, KY. He married Rose Kucharski in 1949; the 1950 census shows them both living in campus housing at Morehead. Bernard and Rose would go on to have three children: Angela, Paul, and Kenneth.
Bernard Kozma in the classroom; photo courtesy Ancestry® and the South River High School 1968 yearbook
In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Bernard was also heavily involved in South River summer recreation programs.
He was a member and an elder at the First Reformed Church in South River, and later a member of St. Paul's United Church of Christ in Milltown, NJ when he and his family relocated there. He was also a member of the Milltown American Legion.
In his spare time, he loved watching football, basketball, and baseball, and playing board games such as chess, checkers, and Monopoly.
Bernard retired from teaching in 1981. He and Rose spent 30 years in retirement in Milltown until his death on May 25, 2011. He is buried at Washington Monumental Cemetery in South River.
Sources:
1930 census
1940 census
1942 article in the Central New Jersey Home News about his high school graduation
https://www.newspapers.com/image/314719560/?match=1&terms=bernard%20kozma
1942 draft card
1943 article in the Central New Jersey Home News; he has five siblings in Army/Navy
https://www.newspapers.com/image/314739105/?match=1&terms=bernard%20p%20kozma
1943 article in the Central New Jersey Home News; more on the above
https://www.newspapers.com/image/315403591/?match=1&terms=bernard%20p%20kozma
1945 article in the Central New Jersey Home News; all six brothers survived the war
https://www.newspapers.com/image/321378780/?match=1&terms=nandor%20kozma
1948 Morehead yearbook (he was freshman)
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/467446106:1265
1950 census
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/86556763:62308?_phcmd=u(%27ancestry.com/search/?name=bernard+p_kozma&event=_millville-cum...)
1952 article in the Central New Jersey Home News; he is teaching 7th grade
https://www.newspapers.com/image/315414783/?match=1&terms=bernard%20kozma
1953 article in the Central New Jersey Home News; he is new high school teacher
https://www.newspapers.com/image/315410877/?match=1&terms=bernard%20kozma
1954 and 1956 articles in the Central New Jersey Home News re his summer work in recreation (typical of numerous other articles)
https://www.newspapers.com/image/315306194/?match=1&terms=bernard%20kozma
https://www.newspapers.com/image/315479235/?match=1&terms=bernard%20kozma
1959 marriage record (the marriage actually took place in 1949)
1968 South River High School yearbook (includes photo; he was teacher)
2011 Social Security death index
2011 obituary in the Central New Jersey Home News
https://www.newspapers.com/image/320755246/?match=1&terms=bernard%20p%20kozma
2011 obituary
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/mycentraljersey/name/bernard-kozma-obituary?id=23239529
2024 (April 14) GALP Veteran Biography Worksheet from daughter Angela Kozma Maxwell