NOTES ON PEOPLE (01/26/97)

NOTES ON PEOPLE

Dr. Kozak assists sick Ukrainian child

ROBBINSDALE, Minn. - Dr. Michael Kozak, a retired family physician, arranged for a 4-year-old girl from Ternopil, Ukraine, to receive free medical care at North Memorial Medical Center here last summer. The little girl, Maria Gretchko, was born with a pigmented mole that covered more than half of her exposed forehead as well as her right eyebrow and upper eyelid.

An active member of St. Constantine Ukrainian Catholic Church, Dr. Kozak had written an article for the church newsletter that detailed the availability of free medical care for Ukrainian children with treatable illnesses.

According to NorthWord, a publication of the North Memorial Health Care system, Dr. Kozak, who retired in 1995 after 38 years as a family physician with Northbrook Clinic, received 200 requests for help from Ukraine. Maria is the sixth child brought to the United States with the help of Dr. Kozak.

The retired physician arranged for North Memorial Medical Center and Dr. Kevin Strathy, a reconstructive surgeon, to provide free medical care to Maria. St. Constantine's Church is providing free room and board for the little girl and her mother, Iryna. Healing the Children, an organization in Litchfield, Minn., provided Maria and Mrs. Gretchko with free airfare from Frankfurt to Minnesota.

Since last summer Dr. Kozak has served as Maria's translator and chauffeur as the little girl undergoes a tissue expansion procedure. The procedure, which entails surgically implanting a silicone balloon beneath the skin, is slowly stretching her forehead skin so that when her mole is removed, the extra skin will be stretched across the open area. The procedure can take from six months to one year.

Dr. Kozak is proud of the little girl's progress, pointing out that during her many treatments Maria "has never cried. She is always talking and smiling. Even though she does not fully understand what is being done, she somehow knows it is for the best."

Dr. Kozak is a member of UNA Branch 183.

Melanie Paul tours Ukrainian ships

NORFOLK, Va. - Two Ukrainian ships that were docked in mid-September are now on their way to Europe, and one former McAdoo woman has warm memories of their visit.

After completing a joint-exercise with the U.S. Navy, the frigate Hetman Sahaidachnyi and the landing ship Kostiantyn Olshansky stopped at the sprawling Norfolk Naval Base for a unique five-day port of call to replenish supplies and fuel, and get needed crew rest. Each ship carried a 250-man crew comprising both Russian and Ukrainian sailors. When asked how they felt about being an independent country now, one Ukrainian officer said they felt very proud, but added that he realized Ukraine would have to maintain good relations with both the U.S. and Russia. The arrival of the two Ukrainian ships was the first time an ex-Soviet Bloc nation had paid a naval ship visit to the U.S.

The Ukrainian ships were open for tours, which attracted both civilians and military personnel. Melanie Skripnek-Paul and her husband, a retired Air Force officer, arrived at the pier with several care packages for the sailors, only to discover that the advertised visiting hours were incorrect and a stern sentry was blocking entry to the docks.

En route to their car, Mr. and Mrs. Paul met three uniformed Ukrainian officers returning to their ship. After a friendly exchange the sailors discovered that Mrs. Paul was Ukrainian, so they warmly welcomed her and her husband aboard for a personal tour. After the tour, Mrs. Paul gave her address to one of the sailors to give to a potential pen-pal in Kyiv, the city where her grandparents lived before coming to Pennsylvania. Mrs. Paul is a member of UNA Branch 7.

Denysenko receives credit union award

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Tamara Denysenko, CEO/general manager of the Rochester Ukrainian Federal Credit Union, received the World Council of Credit Unions Silver Award on October 9, 1996, for her work to reintroduce the credit union movement in Ukraine.

Joseph Kahler, Rochester District president of the New York State Credit Union League, and Myron Babiuk, president of the Rochester Ukrainian FCU, presented Ms. Denysenko with the award during a banquet attended by 300 credit union activists.

Ms. Denysenko is also the first vice-president of the Rochester District of the New York State Credit Union League, alternate state director of the credit union league and treasurer of the World Council of Ukrainian Credit Unions.

She is a member of the Town of Irondequoit Ethics Committee and a board member of the Irondequoit Chamber of Commerce. In 1995 Ms. Denysenko was honored by the town of Irondequoit as "Outstanding Woman of the Year."

She has also been a director and instructor of the Ukrainian Language School, producer and director of the first local Ukrainian television program on cable TV, and editor of the Cooperative Tribune, a national, bilingual Ukrainian credit union newspaper.

Ms. Denysenko frequently lectures at local schools, libraries and community organizations, and travels to Ukraine to lecture and train credit union personnel there.

She is a member of UNA Branch 285.

Dr. Dzul celebrates 75th birthday

DETROIT - Dr. Paul Dzul, president of the World Federation of Ukrainian Medical Societies, celebrated his 75th birthday in the fall of 1996.

Dr. Dzul was born on October 14, 1921, in the village of Milno in Ternopil Oblast. His parents, Ivan and Maria Dzul, were active and enlightened members of the village community, and his maternal grandfather, Havril Maybrodsky, was one of the founding members of the Village Husbandry Society in Lviv.

Dr. Dzul attended the Ukrainian Gymnasium in Ternopil and completed studies there in 1942. He then began medical studies in Lviv during the second world war and continued his studies in exile in Graz and Innsbruck, Austria, where he became a medical doctor in 1948.

In 1949 Dr. Dzul came to the United States and settled in Detroit. He completed his internship and commenced a private medical practice in 1951. After a short time as a general practitioner, he began his specialization in otolaryngology at Wayne State University.

In 1960 he opened a private practice in ear, nose and throat medicine. With time this practice prospered to the point where eight otolaryngologists and 30 staff members were employed. He became a member of the American Otolaryngologlcal Society and the American College of Surgeons as well as a faculty member of Wayne State University, where he holds the title of clinical professor of otolaryngology.

Over the years Dr. Dzul has taken a very active role in the Ukrainian Medical Society and the World Federation of Ukrainian Medical Societies. He has been the editor of the journal of the Ukrainian Medical Society since 1967, and has assisted in the preparation of numerous scholarly works and translations.

Other publications that he has prepared and edited include: Materials for the History of Ukrainian Medicine (1988); Commemorative Volume on the 40th Anniversary of the Ukrainian Medical Society (1990); Ukrainian Doctors (1994) and others.

In 1992 Dr. Dzul became president of the World Federation of Ukrainian Medical Societies and has since organized three medical congresses in Ukraine (Kharkiv, 1992; Dnipropetrovsk, 1994; Odesa, 1996). He has also provided support for the Medical Institute in Lviv, and contributed to the Encyclopedia of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Medical Dictionary.

Dr. Dzul has been married for 45 years to Irene M. Dzul (nee Blichar) and has two sons: Andrew, who is an otolaryngologist in Detroit; and George, who practices immigration law in San Francisco.

Dr. Dzul is a member of UNA Branch 183.

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