Campaign announced to raise funds for headstone at Vasyl Barka's grave (06/19/05)

Campaign announced to raise funds for headstone at Vasyl Barka's grave

BUDD LAKE, N.J. - A campaign has been initiated to raise funds for the headstone to be erected on the grave of the late Vasyl Barka, noted poet, writer, literary critic and translator. (Mr. Barka also used the pseudonyms Ivan Vershyna and Ocheret.)

Mr. Barka died on April 11, 2003, at the age of 95. A parastas was offered in Port Jervis, N.Y., which is near Glen Spey, N.Y., where the writer lived, and the funeral liturgy and interment were at St. Andrew the First-Called Apostle Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery in South Bound Brook, N.J.

In consultation with the Rev. Protopresbyter Nestor Kowal, two of the five individuals to whom Mr. Barka gave power of attorney in succession, including Anton Filimonchuk, who is the first person listed, and his wife, Olga, who is the fourth, undertook the effort to erect a monument on the writer's grave.

As the funds derived from the estate of Mr. Barka for funeral expenses do not cover the full cost of the headstone, the Filimonchuks are appealing to the Ukrainian community to donate the remainder of the amount needed: approximately $6,000.

The proposal for the headstone's design was submitted to the Parker-Gray Funeral Home in Port Jervis, and Donald Parker approved the design in March. The final design, including the lettering, was approved by Mr. Parker in June.

The dedication of the monument is slated for July 16 at St. Andrew's Cemetery.

Donations may be sent to: Anton Filimonchuk, 19 Aldersgate Circle, Budd Lake, NJ 07828-3810; checks should be made payable to Anton and Olga Filimonchuk with the notation "Vasyl Barka Memorial." For further information readers may call Mr. or Mrs. Filimonchuk at 973-691-1342.

| Home Page |