Class of 1949
1949 Graduation EditionPerry Daily Journal
Bernard Joe Vaverka is a motorcycle enthusiast outside of school. He is vice president and assistant road captain of the Perry Motorcycle club.
In school he participated on the wrestling team for two years and plans to work in the lumber mills in Oregon after graduation.
He is president of the Catholic Stud club. The first six years of his education were spent at Bison near Hennessey, where he was born.
The 20-year-old boy is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Vaverka, Perry route 3, but he lives in Perry at the fire station.
Bernard Joseph Vaverka
April 28, 1929 – October 13, 1962
Bernard J. Vaverka, 34, was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Vaverka, southeast of Perry. His blue and white Piper Pacer disappeared on October 13, 1962, in a heavy overcast after takeoff from McLeod harbor on Montague island to Anchorage, Alaska. Vaverka had been on a weekend hunting trip with Leonard (Corky) Ivie. The pair were never seen again after that. Large searches failed to discover clues as to their whereabouts.
Vaverka, a foreman for the Alaska housing authority, was born April 28, 1929, at Hennessey. Mrs. Vaverka, the former Cordia Yeager, lives in Eagle River, Alaska.
Vaverka’s family also includes two brothers, Joe and Lawrence of the home southeast of Perry, and a sister, Miss Irene Vaverka, Oklahoma City.
A requiem mass was held Aug. 12 at St. Anthony’s Catholic church in Anchorage, Alaska. Rev. Robert J. Whelan had charge of the mass.