 In December 1969, Bednarski and three other weightlifters associated with the 1968 Summer Olympics met with President Richard Nixon for seven minutes at the White House along with Pennsylvania congressman George Atlee Goodling.In 1983, he was inducted into the United States Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame.Bednarski was born in Hartford, Connecticut, to parents John and Helen, and had three brothers, John, Gary, and Richard, and three sisters, Judie Valois, Carol Ferrelli, and Brenda Paris.