OBITUARIES (08/03/97)

OBITUARIES

Very Rev. Stephen Hankavich, pastor emeritus in Parma, 74

PARMA, Ohio - The Very Rev. Protopresbyter Stephen Hankavich, pastor emeritus of St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, Parma, Ohio, passed away on June 20. He was 74.

The Rev. Hankavich was born in Youngstown, Ohio, on September 17, 1922. He served in the army in Europe during World War II.

A graduate of St. Andrew's Ukrainian Orthodox Seminary in Winnipeg, he was ordained in 1950. That year he was assigned as pastor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Northampton, Pa., where he remained for 10 years, until his transfer to St. Vladimir's in Parma (then Cleveland) in 1960. He also served as dean of the Penn-Ohio Deanery.

On Saturday, June 21, five priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church anointed the body of the Rev. Hankavich and vested him for the final time. On Sunday, June 22, the Rev. Hankavich's body lay in state at St. Vladimir's Cathedral - the parish he had served for 37 years. A parastas service was celebrated in the cathedral, which was filled with friends, relatives and spiritual children of the Rev. Hankavich. Bishop Robert Moskal of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Parma concelebrated and delivered the homily.

A divine liturgy was celebrated at the cathedral on Monday morning, June 23, with the Rev. John Nakonachny, pastor of St. Vladimir's, serving as the main celebrant. The Rev. Ivan Mironko of Holy Trinity Parish in North Royalton, Ohio, gave a homily in Ukrainian and the Rev. Dennis Kristof of St. Nicholas Pro-Cathedral in Lakewood, Ohio, offered a sermon in English. The cathedral remained open all day for the steady stream of visitors who came to bid the Rev. Hankavich a fond farewell and to express their condolences to Pani Matka Ann Hankavich and the members of her family.

On Monday evening, the service of priestly burial was celebrated by Metropolitan Constantine and over 20 area and eparchial clergy serving in the overflowing cathedral, The Rev. John Zdinak, president of the Greater Cleveland Council of Orthodox Clergy, eulogized the pastor emeritus in English and the Rev. Stephen Posakiwsky of St. Stephen Church in Brunswick, Ohio, did so in Ukrainian. The Rev. Nakonachny offered his thanks to all who attended the service, especially the many members of the Greater Cleveland Council of Orthodox Clergy.

Metropolitan Constantine was the main celebrant at the funeral hierarchical divine liturgy on Tuesday, June 24; Archbishop Antony concelebrated with more than 20 priests and deacons. Metropolitan Constantine preached in both Ukrainian and English. The responses for all the funeral services were led by the cathedral choir, under the direction of Markian Komichak. During the three days of services, approximately 2,000 faithful visited St. Vladimir's Cathedral to pay their respects to the Rev. Hankavich.

Following the funeral liturgy, a procession led by priests as pallbearers circled the cathedral, chanting a gospel account at each side. A luncheon was hosted by the parish in the parish hall, during which the Rev. Nakonachny, Pani Matka Hankavich and Parish Council President Paul Burlij expressed their gratitude to all who attended and participated in the funeral services.

After the luncheon, three buses of faithful travelled to Youngstown, Ohio, where interment was held at Ss. Peter and Paul Cemetery, the parish where the Rev. Hankavich was baptized and raised. The procession was met by the Rev. Charles Baxter, pastor of Ss. Peter and Paul, and other priests of the Penn-Ohio Deanery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. A reception, hosted by the parish, followed the burial service.

Survivors include the Rev. Hankavich's wife of 47 years, the former Ann Cherepacha; daughters Mary Ann O'Neill of Baltimore and Donna Kominko of Independence, Ohio; five grandchildren; and a brother, Charles, of Youngstown.

The Rev. Hankavich was a member of the Youngstown Branch of the Ukrainian National Association. Donations in his memory were made to the St. Vladimir Brotherhood Scholarship Fund and the St. Vladimir Seminary Fund.

Sister Dionysia, teacher and pastoral minister

SLOATSBURG, N.Y. - Sister Dionysia Pedelisky, superior and pastoral minister at St. Nicholas Catholic Church, Minersville, Pa., and her sister, Emma Pedelisky Swindler, were killed in an automobile accident, June 12 in Fairbanks, Alaska.

They had gone there to vacation with Mrs. Swindler's son, a resident of Fairbanks, and were on a sightseeing excursion.

Sister Dionysia, 76, a member of the Order of Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate, a former teacher, worked in Minersville's St. Nicholas Elementary School in 1952-1957, went on to serve diocesan schools in Shamokin, Pa.; St. Nicholas, Passaic, N.J.; St. Joseph, Chicago; and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Philadelphia. She returned to Minersville in 1993. She also directed the Sodality Girls of the Mother of God and led the altar servers.

The fatal accident occurred 20 miles beyond a rest stop along an Alaskan interstate when Mrs. Swindler swerved to avoid debris on the road. Her car went out of control and over a 20-foot embankment, landing in a stream. Sister Dionysia was killed instantly. Mrs. Swindler was almost unconscious when the state police arrived on the scene but was able to tell them to call a priest for Sister Dionysia. Mrs. Swindler was transported to a hospital where she died.

"She [Sister Dionysia] was probably one of the most outgoing, friendly and compassionate people you'd ever meet," said Sister Helen Paskevich, a fellow Sister Servant of Mary Immaculate, who was missioned with her in Minersville. "She was constantly smiling and had just a wonderful sense of humor."

Panakhyda services were sung by Msgr. Leon Mosko, Msgr. John Terlecky, the Rev. Jonathan Morse, the Rev. Edward Young and the Rev. James Carroll OFM on the day prior to the burial. Bishop Basil H. Losten celebrated a parastas service that evening with concelebrating priests Archpriest Daniel Troyan, the Rev. James Carroll OFM, the Rev. John Chiurpita and the Rev. Anthony Radchuk.

Father Michael Hytsko, pastor of the parish in which Sister Dionysia had last been missioned, led some 65 parishioners, faculty members and school children - members of the Sodality wearing their school uniforms to St. Mary's Villa, Sloatsburg, N.Y., for the funeral liturgy on June 18.

Bishop Losten was the principal celebrant at the liturgy along with Msgr. Michael Fedorowich, Archpriest Troyan, the Rev. Radchuk, and the Rev. Hutsko, who was the homilist. Interment was in the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate Cemetery in Sloatsburg.

Born in Belfield, N.D., the fifth of 10 children, Sister Dionysia entered the community of the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate in 1940. She is survived by a brother, the Rev. Nestor Pedelisky of Chicago.

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