EDITORIAL: Joseph Lesawyer, 1911-2006 (02/12/06)

EDITORIAL

Joseph Lesawyer, 1911-2006

"... Whenever my father's friends got together I would hear discussion about Soyuz. UNA or Ukrainian National Association were terms that were awe-inspired in those days. They represented that colossus that stood astride every important Ukrainian community in America and like a shining light beckoned all of our people to a better way of life. To become supreme president of that mighty organization could not even be a dream - it was that remote and that far away. Yet it happened today. It couldn't have been possible anywhere excepts in miracles countries such as the United States or Canada."

These were the words of Joseph Lesawyer in his acceptance speech on May 24, 1961, after he was unanimously elected by the UNA Supreme Assembly as supreme president of the organization following the untimely and unexpected death of Dmytro Halychyn.

The following year, Mr. Lesawyer, the American-born son of Ukrainian immigrants to the United States, was elected to the first of his four terms as president of the Ukrainian National Association, in his words, "the largest, most dynamic and financially the most powerful Ukrainian fraternal group in the free world." In 1962, it should be noted, the Ukrainian National Association had 82,000 members in 500 branches throughout the United States and Canada, and assets of $26 million.

It was a time when the UNA was growing, a time when the organization could think large and look boldly into the future. The UNA was a prestigious organization that played a principal role in the Ukrainian community; it was represented on the boards of other leading Ukrainian community organizations, from the World Congress of Free Ukrainians and the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America to the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee and the Shevchenko Memorial Committee.

Under President Lesawyer's leadership, the UNA continued to grow, reaching a peak of 89,200 members. The organization's assets also grew, totaling $41.6 million by the end of 1977.

During his terms in office, the UNA funded the two-volume Ukraine: A Concise Encyclopedia, and the Svoboda Press continued to publish books on a variety of topics, especially history, literature and culture. President Lesawyer saw the UNA's newspapers as major assets in community life, "vital not only to the continued growth of Soyuz but to the continued cultural development of our communities" and as "the leaders in espousing the cause of a free and independent Ukraine." He spoke in favor of more material support for Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly in order to create "a still more powerful press to carry on its vital work with greater effectiveness."

He was a man of the people who cared what the people thought and worried about their welfare; and, although he had no children of his own, he had a special place in his heart for the youth of our community. Soyuzivka was dear to him, and he saw the estate as a "center of Ukrainian culture, art and education," as well as a mecca for Ukrainian youth.

Mr. Lesawyer will perhaps be best remembered for the 15-story UNA headquarters building constructed in Jersey City, N.J., in the early 1970s. The imposing building - our Ukrainian "khmarosiah," or skyscraper - was seen by many as the physical manifestation of the ideal of the UNA as the "Ukrainian fortress beyond the seas."

But, most of all, Mr. Lesawyer will be remembered as a man of vision who could imagine what to others seemed impossible, as a man who dared to dream. His words in 1961, when he first took the helm of the UNA, were perhaps most indicative of his spirit: "Our resolutions that were adopted today set the present sights for 100,000 members. 'Impossible,' say all too many of our people. 'You are shooting for the moon.' Yes, we are, and I might add so is President Kennedy."

Though the UNA never did reach that magic 100,000 mark, Joseph Lesawyer gave it his all. Along the way he left his mark on the UNA and our community in so many ways. He will always be remembered as a stalwart of the Ukrainian National Association and the Ukrainian American community.

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