NOTES ON PEOPLE (02/02/97)

NOTES ON PEOPLE

Bishop Moskal is honorary citizen

NORTH PORT, Fla. - Bishop Robert M. Moskal of St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Parma, Ohio, was named an "Honorary Citizen of the City of North Port, Florida" on December 8, 1996, by North Port Commission Chairperson Hazel Hardman.

On December 4, the bishop had visited St. Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church in North Port to celebrate divine liturgy and consecrate the church's newly decorated sanctuary. The sanctuary, decorated by 86-year-old artist Iwan Denysenko of Kerhonkson, N.Y., is almost an exact replica of the sanctuary of St. Sophia Cathedral in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Bishop Moskal was named an honorary citizen of North Port following his visit to the city and in recognition of "the contributions of North Port residents of Ukrainian descent to the growth and prosperity of our city."

Bishop Moskal was consecrated a bishop on October 13, 1981, and installed as the first eparch of the newly created St. Josaphat Eparchy on February 29, 1984. His jurisdiction extends from Ohio and western Pennsylvania south to Florida, and embraces 12,000 faithful in over 40 parishes.

Bishop Moskal is a member of UNA Branch 154.

One of Chicago's top physicians

CHICAGO - The January 1997 issue of Chicago Magazine named Ukrainian American physician Andrew Ripecky as one of the Chicago region's top 500 doctors in a survey recently commissioned by the magazine.

Dr. Ripecky practices at Rush-St. Luke's Presbyterian Medial Center in Chicago, where he specializes in geriatric psychiatry. The exclusive listing places Dr. Ripecky in the top 2.5 percent of physicians in the Chicago region.

The listing was compiled by a team of professional pollsters at Woodward/White, which publishes a professional directory "The Best Doctors in America." The Woodward/White team conducted confidential telephone discussions with thousands of doctors in the three-county Chicago area, asking "If you or your loved ones needed a doctor in your specialty, to whom would you refer them?" Doctors were not allowed to nominate partners or doctors who worked in their hospitals. More than 20,000 doctors were considered for the prestigious nomination.

In addition to his work as a physician, Dr. Ripecky is active in the Ukrainian community, where he serves on the board of the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America. He also is a member of the "Pobratymy" Plast fraternity and was one of the Illinois co-chairs for the 1996 Ukrainian Americans for Clinton-Gore Committee. (Readers of The Ukrainian Weekly will recognize Dr. Ripecky as a frequent contributor to the letters to the editor section.)

Dr. Ripecky and his wife, Ruta Panchuk Ripecky, and their children, Maya and Zoya, are members of UNA Branch 472.

Pittsburgh paper spotlights Komichak

PITTSBURGH - Michael Komichak, host of "The Ukrainian Radio Program" on WPIT-AM (730), was featured in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last fall for 46 years of dedicated service to local ethnic radio. Mr. Komichak's show is one of the longest-running programs in the ethnic radio market.

Mr. Komichak was raised in McKees Rock, Pa., and still lives there today. He got his start in radio working as an engineer at WPIT. Now retired, Mr. Komichak continues to host the one-hour Ukrainian program on Sundays at 1 p.m.

Like many of the current ethnic radio shows, "The Ukrainian Radio Program" is bilingual, with announcements made in both English and Ukrainian. The music is a mix of traditional and contemporary.

Mr. Komichak credits the Ukrainian radio program with playing a major role in raising the $250,000 needed to establish a Ukrainian Nationality Room at the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning.

Mr. Komichak is a member of UNA Branch 53.

Boston activist marks 75th birthday

BOSTON - Mykhailo Lozynsky recently marked his 75th birthday.

Mr. Lozynsky was born on August 17, 1921, in the village of Dykiv Novyi near Liubachiv in western Ukraine.

His father, Andriy, was a farmer and his mother, Paraskeviya, helped her husband. They were considered, for that period of time and place, to be members of the middle class.

The family was blessed with three children: the eldest was Mykhailo, the middle child was Kateryna and the youngest Mykola.

In 1939, western Ukraine was invaded by the Soviet army. This difficult period witnessed a change in the ruling government from one occupying force to one even more ruthless. Soon the occupying force changed as the Nazi army invaded Ukraine. Mykhailo's difficult fate found him serving in an artillery battalion, where fear and death were part of his exiled existence. Only by chance was he saved.

The will of God and the prayers of his mother saved Mykhailo from death. In 1945 he, and the remaining Ukrainian exiles were gathered and placed in detention camps. For four years he wandered in the camps. In 1949 fate changed and he came to the shores of America. Mr. Lozynskyj settled in Boston. Not wasting any time, he found the Ukrainian Church and his native element and became part of them with his entire soul.

The parish of St. Andrew asked Mr. Lozynsky to serve as a member of the parish board which he did faithfully for almost 40 years. The last 25 years he served as the chairman of the auditing commission. For many years he was a member of the school committee and until today is an active member of the parish brotherhood.

The Lozynskys cared for those less fortunate than they including an aged and ailing veteran of the struggle for Ukraine's independence.

One cannot forget the immense financial contributions of the Lozynsky family to the parish of St. Andrew, towards the building of the church and all of its needs. As the church of St. Andrew in Boston was being built, the Ukrainian Orthodox Center in South Bound Brook, N.J., was being constructed. The contributions of the Lozynskys may also be found there.

When the Ukrainian Research Institute was established at Harvard University, the Lozynsky family was quite generous to its needs. Mr. Lozynsky was an early contributor also to the Ukrainian National Fund under the auspices of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and was always very supportive of its activities in Boston.

He offered prayers and generous donations towards the defense of John Demjanjuk.

One cannot ignore his generosity towards the Ukrainian Free University in Munich, the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington and the Ukrainian Consulate in New York.

Many other known and unknown contributions were made by the Lozynsky family to their native Ukrainian community.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the U.S.A. had recognized the generosity of Mr. Lozynsky by presenting him with a certificate of blessing from Metropolitan Mstyslav.

Today, with the same fervor as earlier, Mr. Lozynsky helps his native Ukraine by sending money, packages and especially valuable Ukrainian literature.

Mr. Lozynskyj and his entire family belong to UNA Branch 238.

Cleveland youths succeed early

CLEVELAND - For some, success comes early. Such is the case for Lev and Vsevolod Horodyskyj, who live near Cleveland.

In February 1995, while in the seventh grade, Lev was nominated to participate in Duke University's Talent Identification Program. He took the ACT college entrance exam and scored in the top 2 percent for his age group.

This early success has opened many opportunities for Lev. He enrolled at Padua Franciscan High School at 13 and earned an A+ average during his freshman year. He was accepted into the Satellite Science Program at Duke University in Durham, N.C., where he studied astronomy.

In the past three years, Lev has earned over 30 awards in science, math, art and writing. He is a member of the National Junior Honor Society and the International Society of Poets. His poem "Friends are Friends Forever" won the Editor's Choice Award from the National Library of Poetry, and was published in the anthology "Across the Universe." One of his short stories was published by the Cleveland Earth Day Coalition and broadcast by a local radio station.

Besides academics, Lev also finds time for various after-school activities. He is an editor for the school literary magazine "Horizon," and a member of the Quiz Team and the Earth Club. He also is a volunteer at the Parma Regional Library. Lev finds a creative outlet for his writing by publishing his own newsletter, The Penguin Weekly.

Vsevolod, 12, is in eighth grade at St. Josaphat's School. He also has won many awards, especially in art and science. One of his creations, a water conservation poster, won second place in the state of Ohio last July. It will now be used in the State Water Conservation District's promotional literature and brochures.

Since Lev enjoys writing and Vsevolod has a talent for art, the two brothers decided to pool their skills and write a children's book. In the spring of 1995, their hard work paid off with the publication of "The Adventures of Little Penguin, Little Bear and Little Flamingo," a 52-page book written by Lev and illustrated by Vsevolod. The book is available from the Dnister Co., (216) 842-4961, or from Iwanna Horodyskyj, (312) 276-2641.

Both Lev and Vsevolod are student ambassadors with the People to People Program. Lev traveled to Australia and New Zealand in 1995. Last year he represented the United States in Italy and Greece, where he celebrated his 14th birthday.

Following his older brother's footsteps, Vsevolod was chosen junior student ambassador in December 1995. Last summer, while his brother was overseas, Vsevolod was learning more about the United States at the University of Hilo in Hawaii. He took part in a pilot program called the "Hawaiian Ed-venture," which explored the Hawaiian culture and environment, and included visits to a volcano, a rain forest and a tropical reef.

Both Lev and Vsevolod, together with their 10-year-old sister, Ulyana, a sports enthusiast, belong to the Ukrainian scouting organization Plast.

Lev and Vsevolod are sons of Ivan and Luba Horodyskyj. Lev is a member of UNA Branch 66; Vsevolod is a member of Branch 472.

Team of bicyclists completes annual trip

GLEN SPEY, N.Y. - The Ukrainian Bicycle Team in Exile (named on the premise that all Ukrainians are somehow in exile from somewhere), was formed in 1995 in New Jersey and last August completed its first annual trip from Verkhovyna in Glen Spey, N.Y., to Soyuzivka in Kerhonkson, N.Y. The 50-mile trip from the resort of the Ukrainian Fraternal Association to the resort of the Ukrainian National Association was over mountainous terrain with many killer hills.

The UBTE team consists of Oleh Kolodiy, Ihor Lukiw, Tony Pytlar, Ollie Cordero (a.k.a. Oleh Korduba) and Andrew Hadzewycz. Other team members (Mykola Cynajko and George Smyk) were not able to make this trip.

The five cyclists started their trip to Soyuzivka from Glen Spey on the morning of August 11, 1996. Five hours later (three and a half of that actually spent cycling and the remainder of the time for tune-ups and repairs) they rode onto the property of the UNA estate, Soyuzivka, where they were welcomed by Manager John A. Flis. That night was spent reviewing the trip, complaining about sore posteriors and planning the UBTE's next trip.

UBTE members belong to various UNA branches, including 82, 194, 214, 287 and 777.

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