1991: A LOOK BACK: Deaths in the community (12/29/91)

1991: A LOOK BACK

Deaths in the community

During 1991, the Ukrainian community mourned the passing of notable leaders and activists, both in the diaspora and in Ukraine. Among them were the following:

Oksana Meshko, 85, co-founder of the Ukrainian Helsinki Monitoring Group and the Helsinki-90 Committee, leading member of the Society of the Repressed, a leader of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, activist and veteran of Soviet labor camps - January 22.
Filaret Lukianovich, 78, Auschwitz survivor, administrator of the "Zelena Bukovyna" (Green Bukovyna) publication, founding member of the Central Association of Bukovynian Ukrainians and the Ukrainian Academic Kozak Society "Zaporozhe" and athletics instructor - February 2.
Dr. Roman Osinchuk, 88, activist, founder of the Ukrainian Medical Society of North America, honorary member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society, member of the Patriarchal Society and Ukrainian Journalists' Association of America - February 11.
Dr. Wasyl Lew, 88, philologist, Ukrainian studies expert, literary historian, author of Ukrainian/English and English/Ukrainian dictionaries, and member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society, the Association of Ukrainian Writers, Artists and Scholars, the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Ukrainian Catholic Journalists' Association, the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages, the American Association of University Professors, the Modern Language Association and the Ukrainian American Association of University Professors - March 23.
Mykola Novak, 88, member of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen at 16, helped found the Organization for the Rebirth of Ukraine in 1929. Actor, starred in the first two Ukrainians movies filmed in the United States. Author, and Los Angeles Ukrainian community activist. He persuaded Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty to proclaim January 22 Ukrainian Day - April 6.
Myron Surmach, 98, beekeeper, founder of Surma Book and Music Co., owner of the first Ukrainian book store in the U.S., first Ukrainian to start a Ukrainian radio program in New York City, founding and honorary life member of the Ukrainian Book Center and benefactor of various Ukrainian cultural and social organizations - May 12.
Bohdan Kotyk, Ukrainian people's deputy and mayor of Lviv - August 14.
Dr. Bohdan Cymbalisty, 72, psychologist and chairman of the board of trustees of The Ukrainian Museum for 12 years, director of the New Jersey Training School for Boys, consultant to the New Jersey Bureau of Children's Services and author of "Growing Up in Two Cultures" - August 16.
Zinoviy Krasivsky, 61, former political prisoner and dissident, co-founder of the Ukrainian National Front, member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group - September 20.
The Rev. Yaroslav Lesiv, 49, political prisoner, human rights activist and confessor and confidant of People's Deputy Stepan Khmara. He was a member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group and a co-founder of the Ukrainian National Front, a poet and a teacher - October 6.
Dr. Yuriy Starosolsky, 84, law professor, community activist, writer, artist and Chief Scout of the Ukrainian scouting organization Plast - October 21.
Prof. Volodymyr Janiv, 83, longtime dean and first honorary dean of the Ukrainian Free University in Munich, psychologist, sociologist and author, honorary member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society (and the society's vice president in Europe), the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in Europe, the Ukrainian Historical Society, the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Psychologie, the Ukrainian Theological Society in Rome and others - November 19.
Lydia Savoyka, supervisor of Immigration Counseling at the U.S. Catholic Conference Migration Service, president of the New York General Committee for Immigration, a member of the Federal Advisory Committee to the Commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and the recipient of an honorary law degree from the College of New Rochelle. Ms. Savoyka was a tireless Ukrainian activist, who gave unselfishly of her time to myriad charities and causes. She was known as "the lady with the lamp" for her ceaseless efforts to help those new to the United States - December 20.