Bruno Matika

A Tribute to the Life of Bruno Matika (uncle of Georgina Koenig and Meri Sorgatz):

Bruno was born to Marianna (Mary) Bielak and George (Motyka) Matika on September 5, 1916 in Clifford, Illinois. Bruno had five brothers and two sisters: John Matika (1898-1966); Estella Matika (1905-1949); Nellie Matika (Putney) (1908-2012); Walter Matika (1910-2005); Julian Matika (1912- 2012); Ted Matika (1914 -2014 ); and Frank Matika (1919-1991). Bruno lived in West Frankfort, Illinois until 1935 and at the age of 19 he moved to Chicago, Illinois in search of work. In 1940 he moved to Los Angeles, California with several other family members and worked for Douglas Aircraft.

On August 21, 1942 at the age of 25, Bruno enlisted in the Army during WWII. 2nd LT Bruno Matika was the co-pilot on B24 H-52609 “Murph’s Mighty Mod” 487th Bomb Group. On July 2, 1944 they crashed near Siracourt, France. His burial memorial is at the Normandy American Cemetery in France.

Bruno’s brother, Walter Matika is the father of Georgina (Matika) Koenig and Meri (Matika) Sorgatz. Lynne (Koenig) Lamparski is the granddaughter of Walter Matika. We are honored for the service of Bruno Matika.