2004: THE YEAR IN REVIEW
Our community mourns their passing
We mourned the deaths during 2004 of many people in our community who
were engaged in various fields of endeavor. Among them were the following.
- Michael Waris, 82, specialist in federal and international tax legislation
and tax litigation, associate tax legislative counsel in the office of
the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, partner at the Washington office of
the international law firm Baker and McKenzie, and founding member of the
Ukrainian American Bar Association - Bethesda, Md., January 9.
- Dr. Stephen Dudiak, 79, physician and co-founder with his wife, Lusia,
née Korybutiak, of the humanitarian project Medical Clinic on Wheels
to benefit Ukraine, and of scholarships at the National University of Kyiv
Mohyla Academy and the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv - Madison,
Wisc., January 16.
- William Rybak, 82, Pennsylvania state legislator representing the 135th
District in the Pennsylvania House and chair of numerous committees during
his five-term tenure, founder of the Rybak Handicapped Children's Fund
and active member of the Ukrainian American community of the Lehigh Valley
- Bethlehem, February 3.
- Dr. Ilarion Cholhan, 85, physician and author/playwright, member of
the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America and the Writers' Union
of Ukraine - Brooklyn, N.Y., February 12.
- Theodor V. Shumeyko, 81, a public relations and advertising specialist,
director of the marketing/communications firm The Shumeyko Group and vice-president
of T.J. Ross & Associates, community and cultural activist; president
of the Ukrainian Youth League of North America (1940s) - New York, March
16.
- Dr. Oleh Wolansky, 90, physician and active member of the Ukrainian
community and member of the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America
- Kerhonkson, N.Y., March 9.
- The Very Rev. Protopresbyter William Czekaluk, 85, longtime pastor
of St. Mary Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Allentown, Pa. - Allentown,
March 31.
- Mykola Rudenko, 83, writer, and human rights activist, founding member
of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group and former Soviet political prisoner, contributor
to the Ukrainian-language Svoboda (1987-1990) and active member, with his
wife, Raissa, an editor at Svoboda, of the Ukrainian community - Kyiv,
April 1.
- John Taras, 84, internationally known choreographer and balletmaster
at New York City Ballet (NYCB), American Ballet Theater (ABT) and leading
companies abroad, including the Paris Opera Ballet and the Deutsche Opera
Ballet in West Berlin - New York, April 2.
- Andriy Lesiw, 81, former chef at the Ukrainian National Association
resort, Soyuzivka, and former member of the Galicia Division during World
War II - Kerhonkson, N.Y., April 26.
- Dr. James E. Mace, 52, professor of history, author and English editor
at the Kyiv newspaper Den, who, as staff director of the United States
Commission on the Ukraine Famine and author of its Report to Congress,
was broadly regarded as the individual whose scholarly research gave the
world the first detailed documentation on the artificially induced Great
Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine. A memorial service for Dr. Mace, a native
Oklahoman of partial American Indian ancestry, was held at the Teacher's
Building in Kyiv with more than 1,000 people in attendance, including leading
political and academic leaders; interment was at Kyiv's historic Baikove
Cemetery - Kyiv, May 6.
- Danylo Shumuk, 89, a veteran national and human rights activist - the
longest serving Ukrainian prisoner of conscience, known as "the eternal
prisoner" - who served 42 years in various prisons and camps of Poland,
Germany and the Soviet Union for his political activity, member of the
Ukrainian Helsinki Group; upon emigrating to Canada in 1987, an outspoken
advocate for human and national rights causes - Krasnoarmiisk, Ukraine,
May 21.
- Roma Pryma-Bohachevsky, 77, doyenne of Ukrainian dance in America,
former prima ballerina and soloist in Europe and North America, choreographer
and artistic director; as founder of the School of Ballet and Ukrainian
Dance (1963), a leading North American instructor of Ukrainian folk dance
and director of the Syzokryli Ukranian Dance Ensemble - New York, May 23.
- Mary Lesawyer, 91, a former opera singer with the New York City Opera
and wife of former longtime president of the Ukrainian National Association
Joseph Lesawyer - Orlando, Fla., June 13.
- Vira Levytska, 88, stage actress and Merited Artist of Ukraine, whose
career included engagements with the Zahrava, Kotliarevsky, Lesia Ukrainka
and Lviv Opera theaters in Ukraine, as a postwar refugee with the Ensemble
of Ukrainian Actors in West Germany (1945-1949). and as an émigré
to the United States with the Teatr u Piatnytsiu in Philadelphia - Philadelphia,
May 26.
- Yaroslaw Haywas, 93, political commentator and active participant in
the Ukrainian liberation struggle since his youth, a leading member of
the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, member of the national executive
of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, and editorial staff member
of the Svoboda daily newspaper - Hunter, N.Y., June 14.
- Olga Diadyniuk, 101, artist, and wife of Ukrainian artist Vasyl Diadyniuk
(1900-1941) - Jersey City, N.J., June 17.
- Dr. Modest Ripetsky, 83, physician, head of Litopys UPA publication
committee and member of the Ukrainian Supreme Liberation Council - Chicago,
June 28.
- William J. Pastuszek, 78, real estate developer and member of the General
Assembly of the Ukrainian National Association, UNA advisor and auditor
with over 20 years of service, and president of UNA Branch 231; member
of the Metropolitan Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A.;
and a prominent leader in civic and community activities in Delaware County,
Pa. - Swarthmore, Pa., July 14.
- Helen Olek-Scott, 91, honorary member of the Ukrainian National Association
(UNA) General Assembly, an UNA advisor with 24 years of service and secretary
of UNA Branch 22 - Chicago, July 31.
- Oksana Komanovska, 70, chemist and active member of Plast Ukrainian
Scouting Organization and the Pershi Stezhi Plast Sorority, and member
of the Tabir Ptashat Camp Committee - Bluebell, Pa., September 8.
- Eugene Harasymiw, 63, a leader within the Ukrainian Canadian community
and Edmonton representative of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association
- Edmonton, October 2.
- The Very Rev. Protopresbytor Serhiy Neprel, 88, ordained to the priesthood
in 1939 in Kremianets, Volyn region, Ukraine where he subsequently served
in a pastoral capacity; upon emigrating, longtime pastor of Holy Trinity
Ukrainian Orthodox Cathderal, New York, and Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox
Church, Irvington, N.J., - New York, October 5.
- Nicholas L. Fr.- Chirovsky, 85, professor of economics at Seton Hall
University, South Orange, N.J. and author of numerous articles and books
on East European history and economy - Tempe, Ariz., November 3.
- Wolodymyr Zyla, 85, professor of languages and comparative literature
at Texas Tech University, literary scholar, editor, political activist
and former minister of the Ukrainian government in exile - Lubbock, Texas,
November 16.
- Dr. Michael Marunchak, 80, archivist and author, a Ukrainian nationalist
and a Holocaust survivor, former president of the Ukrainian Academy of
Arts and Sciences in Canada, and editor of "Ukrainian Canadians: A
History" (1982) - Winnipeg, November 21.
- Bishop Pavlo Vasylyk, 79, eparch of Kolomyia-Chernivtsi (1993-2001)
and leader for four decades in the underground Ukrainian Greek-Catholic
Church during the Soviet period - Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, December 12.
- Maria Anna Spolska, 88, community leader, who as president of the Social
Services of Ukrainians in Canada, Toronto Branch, organized a range of
humanitarian programs and funds that continue to function to this day,
including Pomich Ukraini (Aid to Ukriane) and Kharytatyvnyi Fond (Charitable
Fund) - Toronto, November 23.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January
16, 2005, No. 2, Vol. LXXIII
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