Funeral costs for Bernard Laitkep

After a long battle with cancer, Bernard Laitkep received his Wings Sunday, June 5th, 2022. Bernard, also known as Mr. B was a man of honor, pride, and loyalty. He was born in March of 1945 to John & Marie Laitkep, making him 1 of the 10 children. Bernard A.K.A. Mr. B was an Army Veteran who served as a mechanic during the Vietnam war. After his service in the military, Bernard began his career in the metal fabrication industry. In 1983 Bernard followed his dearest friend Tommy Jansky to the small town of Wharton, where T.J. Welding & Fabrication began, and he met the love of his life Linda Laitkep. They Married just 8 short months later, but when you know, you know. This year would have marked their 28th wedding anniversary.

Bernard helped grow T.J. Welding into what it is today, bringing quality and pride into every job he completed for many years. Things he built can be found all over the globe as he made things for the oil industry, electrical industry and even repaired equipment for local farmers. Anything that involved metal he could build or fix.

When he was diagnosed with cancer roughly 5 years ago, Bernard decided to retire, allowing him to focus on the battle ahead of him, which consisted of chemo, radiation, and surgeries. For 5 long years, he never gave up; no matter how sick he became from the medications, no matter the pain he endured from the toll radiation took on his body, that man fought hard for each day God gave him on this earth. Around year two, Bernard started seeing positive results as tumors were no longer growing, allowing him to take his wife dancing again while enjoying some cold Bud Light. Things began to look up until medical bills started rolling in. Bernard could have paid a little here and there even though he knew the bills would never be paid in full, but his pride would not let a medical debt overcome him. As a result, he returned to T.J. Welding, working part-time to earn extra money to pay his medical bills.

He was able to work for about a year as his scans did not show any growth in his tumors; however, when the medication began to fail, everything spread like wildfire. The cancer was now in his bloodstream, causing tumors to pop up in different areas of his body. Most men hearing that kind of news would have given up, but not Bernard. The Doctors saw the fight in his eyes as they began searching for trial treatments to slow the rapid growth of his cancer. For the Remaining years, he tried so many trial treatments, some would work for a while, and when they began to fail, he started another round of trial treatments. Never once did he give up fighting hard till the very end. Anyone who knew Bernard was rooting for him to win this battle as he was the good guy. Although he is no longer here in physical form, his memory lives on through his children, grandchildren and amazing/supportive wife, Linda.

This GoFundMe account is set up to help Linda and the Family cover some of his services, cremation, and unexpected costs. Any amount you can Donate is beyond appreciated. Bernard was an Army Veteran, Proud Father, Gentle Husband, Skilled fabricator, and one of the good guys. He will truly be missed but never forgotten.