Berniece M. Novosel

Berniece M. Novosel passed away Monday, November 7, 2022 at the Rose Estates, in Overland Park, Ks.  Funeral service will be at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 708 N 4th beginning with Visitation from 9-10AM and Mass of Christian Burial at 10AM.  Burial Immediately following at Mt. Calvary Cemetery, KCK. 

Predeceasing her were her parents, her sisters Anne R. Spehar, Mary K. Novak, Mildred A. Nicholson, and brother Joseph A. Novosel.

Berniece, known to her family and close friends as “Bunny”, was born on October 23, 1923, the youngest of the children born to Gabriel and Katherine (Sutlic) Novosel of Kansas City, Kansas. Upon graduation from Wyandotte High School in 1942, she attended Dickson Secretarial School. As a first generation American entering the workforce at the end of the Great Depression, she made the most of opportunities available to the young at that time. During WWII she worked at the Aerion Mfg. Co., and Commonwealth Aircraft. During the war hardly a week would pass without her writing a letter to her brother Joseph away in the United States Army. After the war she began her secretarial career of nearly 35 years. First came Long Bell Lumber followed by tenures at Great Lakes Pipeline, The Kansas City, Kansas Board of Public Utilities and several firms specializing in corporate and tax law. For a time she was office manager for the The United Steelworkers of America, Local 14436. At retirement in 1992 she was vice president of Heine Machine Works, Kansas City, Missouri. Throughout her business career and afterward, Berniece maintained a high standard of personal appearance; she jealously guarded her reputation as a smart dresser, even in later years, as women’s dress became more and more informal in the workplace.

Berniece was a lifelong communicant of St. John the Baptist Church, Kansas City, Kansas and lived most of her life in in that city. She was a volunteer at the parish rectory for many years, even after her move to Prairie Village, Kansas in 1994. Berniece had a deep love of the Croatian community in which she lived as well as a deep respect for the enduring family values of that community. Although she never married, she was especially devoted to the young of her extended family.

Her survivors include her two nephews, Warren E. Spehar, of Taos, New Mexico and Alan E. Novak and his wife, Carol of Upland, California. She leaves six great nieces, two great nephews, six great-great nieces and two great-great nephews. The family requests direct memorial contributions in lieu of flowers to the Maintenance Fund of St. John the Baptist, Kansas City, Kansas.