OBITUARY: Dr. Alexander Gudziak, community leader and benefactor (05/07/06)

OBITUARY: Dr. Alexander Gudziak, community leader and benefactor

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Dr. Alexander Gudziak, 80, of Syracuse, N.Y., passed away peacefully at Crouse Hospital in Syracuse on Saturday, April 22, after a long illness.

He was born on January 19, 1926, in Pomoriany, Ukraine. He completed a degree in dental surgery at the Ludwig Maximillian University in Munich and a D.D.S. degree at New York University.

After serving as captain in the U.S. Army in Germany, Dr. Gudziak settled in Syracuse, where he had a successful dental practice for 40 years. He was an active member of the Greater Syracuse Dental Society and other professional organizations.

Actively involved in the Ukrainian American community, Dr. Gudziak served as the head of the Syracuse Branch of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and chairman of the Ukrainian Federal Credit Union in Syracuse. He was a communicant of St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Syracuse.

Dr. Gudziak was an avid skier, swimmer and golfer, and a generous contributor to academic and community organizations. In March 2005 Pope John Paul II decorated Dr. Gudziak with the medal "Pro Ecclesia et Pontefice."

Surviving are his wife of 55 years, Jaroslawa; sons Father Borys Gudziak of Lviv, and Dr. Marko Gudziak, with his wife, Roma, and their children, Kateryna, Gregory and Zachary of Michigan.

Funeral services were on April 25 at St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Syracuse. Burial was on April 26 at St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery in South Bound Brook, N.J.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation, 2247 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60622; www.ucef.org.

| Home Page |