OBITUARY: Roman Baranowskyj, prominent community leader, 100
KERHONKSON, N.Y. - Dr. Roman Baranowskyj, a veterinarian by profession and a prominent Ukrainian community leader and notable contributor to Svoboda, died on January 23 in Kerhonskon, N.Y., at the age of 100.
Dr. Baranowskyj was born June 12, 1905, in Halych, western Ukraine, into the family of the Rev. Evstakhiy and Sofia (née Nestajko).
Upon completing his secondary education in Buchach, Ternopil region, he served a stint as a volunteer in a field army hospital across the river Zbruch during the time of Ukraine's liberation struggle and the declaration of the independent democratic Ukrainian National Republic (January 22, 1918).
He returned to Halychyna (western Ukraine), enrolling in the school of veterinary medicine at the University of Lviv, which he completed in 1933. In 1937 he married Stefania Dmochowskyj, a dentist by profession.
Dr. Baranowskyj worked in Lviv in the area of animal disease eradication (1934-1936) and conducted a general veterinary practice (1936-1945).
With the outbreak of war, in September 1939, he was drafted into the Polish Army and shortly thereafter was taken prisoner of war by the Germans. Upon his release in 1940, he worked in an army hospital in Zgierz near Lódz and later as a veterinarian in the town of Stawiszyn near Kalish.
As political refugees, the family moved to Munich, Germany, in 1945, where Dr. Baranowskyj was active in the displaced persons camps. In 1948 he completed his doctorate in veterinary medicine at the University of Munich and worked as an assistant professor at the Ukrainian Technical Husbandry Institute (1948-1949).
In 1949 the family emigrated to the United States, settling in Chicago. Dr. Baranowskyj secured a job with the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a veterinary meat inspector (1950-1963). From 1963 until his retirement in 1977, Dr. Baranowskyj served as a veterinary medical officer with the Bureau of Veterinary Medicine at the Food and Drug Administration Agency in Washington.
Dr. Baranowskyj was a member of the Ukrainian Veterinary Medical Association, serving as the association's president in 1950-1951, and again in 1961-1963, and was editor of the association's journal Informatyvnyi Lystok (Informative Newsletter) in 1950-1963.
Apart from his professional commitments, Dr. Baranowskyj was known as a leading Ukrainian community activist in various spheres of endeavor. He served as president of the Ukrainian American Association and was co-editor of its journal Nash Holos (Our Voice). He also served as secretary and press secretary of the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council from 1982 up to the time of his death.
Dr. Baranowskyj was widely known as a frequent contributor of articles on a full range of timely topics to the New Jersey-based Svoboda Ukrainian-language newspaper, published by the Ukrainian National Association (UNA).
He was also an active member of the Ukrainian National Association and the UNA Seniors, as well as the community of retirees who reside in the condomium complex near the UNA estate Soyuzivka where, upon retirement, Dr. Baranowskyj lived with his wife.
The oldest surviving member of the Lisovi Chorty Plast Fraternity, Dr. Baranowskyj was also instrumental in compiling and serving as editor for the memoirs written by members of the Lisovi Chorty Plast Fraternity.
Dr. Baranowskyj was inducted into the Order of Malta, a lay religious order of the Catholic Church.
Dr. Baranowskyj is survived by his wife, Stephanie; son Yuriy, with his wife Areta; daughter Vera Hrabets with her husband, Yuriy; four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren; and sister, Liuba Korol with her husband, Stefan and family.
A panakhyda service for Dr. Baranowskyj was held on January 27 in Kerhonkson, N.Y. Funeral services were held at the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity in Kerhonskon on January 28.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, February 5, 2006, No. 6, Vol. LXXIV
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