John Samuel "BeeBop" Ordyna

05/24/2007

John Samuel "BeeBop" Ordyna, 84, of 1248 Main Road died Thursday at North Adams Regional Hospital after being admitted Wednesday. Born in Adams on March 24, 1923, son of Walter and Josephine Walczyk Ordyna, he was educated in schools there. An Army veteran of World War II, he served with the 32nd Field Artillery Battalion, 1st Armored Division, as a technical sergeant during the Normandy Landing, in the campaigns of Northern France, the Rhineland and Ardennes, and in Sicily, Belgium, Holland and Czechoslovakia. He was awarded the Bronze Star and other campaign medals. Mr. Ordyna was employed by General Electric Co. in the ordnance division, where he was involved with the development of the Mk 45-caliber rifle, the Aegis radar system and the Silent Submarine Project. He retired in 1987. He also worked as a mechanic for local construction firms, including for the former Buster's Service Station on Commercial Street in Adams. Previously, he worked at Stohlman's Farm in Adams. He was a hunter, fisherman and gardener, and a fan of the Boston Red Sox. His wife, the former Jennie Mercier, whom he married March 26, 1950, in Stamford, Vt., died April 20, 2002. He leaves his step-grandson and caregiver, David J. "Pancho" Nassif Jr. of Savoy; a stepdaughter, Bernice Kominechi of the state of Florida; a granddaughter; and four great-grandchildren. Two other stepdaughters, Frances Fleury and Joan Levesque Meehan, are deceased. FUNERAL NOTICE -- A Liturgy of Christian Burial for John S. Ordyna, who died Thursday, May 24, 2007, with his family at his side, will be celebrated Tuesday, May 29, at 10 a.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Adams. Burial will follow in the family plot in Bellevue Cemetery, next to his wife, Jennie. The family will receive friends at MCBRIDE FUNERAL HOME, which is in charge of arrangements, on Tuesday from 8 to 9:30 a.m., when a prayer service will be offered prior to the Eucharist service at St. Thomas'. The family suggests that, in lieu of flowers, a donation may be made to Savoy Volunteer Fire Company, in care of the funeral home or to the Fire Department on Main Road, Savoy, MA 01256. Mr. Ordyna also leaves his granddaughter-in-law and caregiver, Lisa Nassif; and a step-granddaughter, Kathleen Jakubowski of West Granby, Conn.

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