OBITUARY: Katherine Baran, former officer of the Ukrainian Fraternal Association, 97 (01/30/00)

OBITUARY: Katherine Baran, former officer of the Ukrainian Fraternal Association, 97

by Theodora Turula

CHICAGO - Katherine Baran, long-time director, supreme auditor and honorary member of the Supreme Council of the Ukrainian Fraternal Association, died on December 21, 1999, in Chicago, at the age of 97.

Family, friends and community members honored the deceased by gathering at a panakhyda (requiem service) on December 27 at the Muzyka Funeral Home. Mrs. Baran's many years of dedicated fraternal activity and Ukrainian community work were recalled in eulogies offered by Paul Konowal, UFA Supreme Council member, and Theodora Turula, also of the UFA.

On the following day, during funeral services at St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Mrs. Baran's granddaughter Janice Silvestri shared one of her favorite poems, and grandson John Frendreis read a moving eulogy.

Born January 10, 1902, Mrs. Baran was the daughter of hard-working pioneers. Her father, Konstantine Tkachuk, left his wife, Anna, with their young children in Ukraine while he traveled to the new world to lay the foundation of a new life for his family.

He worked at various jobs, and in March 1913 was able to purchase property in Lublin, Wis. He sent for his family, and they arrived in the United States on June 6, 1913. Katherine was 11 years old at the time. Life for the family as homesteading farmers in northwest Wisconsin was very difficult.

At the age of 15, Katherine moved to Chicago to live with her older sister, Tillie, and to work full time. On October 11, 1920, Katherine married Sam Domanchuk. Together, they raised two children, Roman and Eileen, and shared the joy of watching their many grandchildren come into the world. After the death of her husband, she remarried.

Mrs. Baran was always active in the Ukrainian community, sang in the church choir and belonged to many organizations. Her achievements were many. She served as recording and financial secretary of the Ukrainian Women's Aid Society and as its president for two terms. She was recognized by the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America for her efforts to represent Ukraine at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. She served as chairperson of the Ukrainian Red Cross Unit during World War II.

Mrs. Baran was elected to chair the Ukrainian Fraternal Association's annual meetings, was elected to the UFA Supreme Council in 1941 and was voted in 1978 as honorary member of the UFA's Supreme Council in recognition of her many years of service to the organization.

Mrs. Baran's grandchildren and great-grandchildren are fortunate that she took the time to write down her memoirs, so they can remember her and learn about the life of their family. This is how she describes herself, in her own words:

"Almost one word - work - would be enough to describe me. I have always been a workaholic. In my life I worked all kinds of jobs: in a candy factory, in radio shops, on assembly lines, as a transformer tester, coil winder, as a seamstress, a salesperson and a caretaker.

"I was always active in the Ukrainian community, belonged to Ukrainian Women's Aid, and in 1937 was elected as a recording and financial secretary of the Ukrainian Fraternal Association, a post I held until 1958. I enrolled over 1,000 members, attended my first convention in 1941 and was elected to the Supreme Council. At the next convention I was elected a member of the Auditing Committee, and held that position until 1978, when I became an honorary member of the Supreme Council.

"I feel that I did not waste any of my lifetime. I took care of my family, which was my first priority in my life. I did the best I knew how. My life has been very full, and I accomplished a lot."

One of Mrs. Baran's favorite poems includes the line: "I have so many friendships and they do so much for me that I am sure my life will last at least a century." However, she said, "I only disagree with the last line of this essay. God forbid I should live a century." She passed away three years short of that milestone.

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