NOTES ON PEOPLE (05/16/99)

NOTES ON PEOPLE

Goys honored on 50th anniversary

by Mary E. Pressey

NEW YORK - Family and friends gathered on March 6 at the Ukrainian Institute of America to celebrate the golden wedding anniversary of Peter and Lesia Goy, long-standing activists in the fields of education, culture and organizational activities.

Hosting the special event were the Goys' children, Marika and George, who spared nothing in effort, time and expense to make the celebration a treasured and joyous occasion. In an enchanting setting of beautiful rose arrangements, the anniversary couple greeted their guests as music from a lively Ukrainian four-piece band welcomed all.

Toasting the couple and blessing them with good health, well-being and thankfulness was their son, Dr. George Goy, following which the guests wholeheartedly obliged with a hearty "Mnohaya Lita."

Greeting the couple as the first speaker was Prof. Myroslav Labunka, the former rector of the Ukrainian Free University (UFU) in Munich and a personal friend of Prof. and Mrs. Goy, who spoke eloquently of the couple's contribution to Ukrainian society and the Ukrainian Free University. Prof. Labunka read a greeting from Prof. Leonid Rudnytzky, current rector of the UFU, who praised Prof. Goy for his outstanding contributions to the UFU and praised his efforts as head of the Ukrainian Free University Foundation in New York, as well as his dedication to community service. In recognition for his outstanding contribution, Prof. Goy was awarded a special medal by the members of the UFU. While presenting the medal, Prof. Labunka noted that Mrs. Goy also deserved immense credit for Prof. Goy's successes and his accomplishments.

On behalf of the foundation, of which Prof. Goy is past president, Prof. Volodymyr Stojko, delivered a warm greeting to the couple and expressed his gratitude to Prof. Goy's long-standing service to the foundation, which has existed for 25 years. Prof. Stojko read greetings from the Michnovsky Ukrainian Student Association which has branches throughout Western Europe and Australia. Others who greeted the couple included Oksana Lutsky from the Ukrainian Free University Foundation, and the Rev. Lawrenti Lawryniuk of St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church of New York.

Dozens of congratulatory letters and telegrams from well-wishers from North America and Europe were read by Marika Senkowich, daughter-in-law of Anastazia Senkowich, Mrs. Goy's sister. Among the greetings were blessings conveyed from Bishop Basil Losten of Stamford, Conn., Bishop Efrem Kryvey of Brazil and the Rev. William Pryjma of Lourdes, France. Family greetings from Ukraine were exceptionally warm and poignant. Greetings were sent by President Bill Clinton, Sens. Charles Schumer and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Judge Bohdan Futey, as well as by New York Gov. George Pataki. There were numerous greetings from professors and deans of various universities.

The couple met and married at the Munich Frieman displaced persons camp, where they lived after the war for five years. Prof. Goy, who was born in Ukraine, arrived at the camp at the age of 19 and immediately enrolled at the Ukrainian Free University where he obtained his master's degree and Ph.D. in history. Mrs. Goy (nee Stanchuk), born in the Lemko region in Poland, was a high school teacher. The couple worked tirelessly in Ukraininian youth organizations, specifically SUM and Plast.

In July 1949 Prof. and Mrs. Goy sailed for America, first settling in Chicago, where Prof. Goy briefly continued his education in economics at the Chicago University. Later, in New York City, Prof. Goy obtained his master's degree in library science at Columbia University.

In 1959 Prof. Goy became a librarian at the City University of New York, where he was in charge of the Slavic American heritage courses. In the interim, through Plast, he had established a travel group called "Stezhkama Batkiv po Evropi" and devoted 11 years to traveling with students to many European cities to acquaint them with their Ukrainian heritage in Europe. For this undertaking and dedication Prof. Goy was awarded Plast's St. George Medal in Gold in New York in 1994.

In 1992 Prof. Goy established a library and archives of the Ukrainian diaspora at Lviv's Ivan Franko University.

Aside from teaching, Prof. Goy published several books. He was instrumental in the preparation for publication of the English-Spanish Technical Dictionary of Librarianship, and is the author of the Biographical Dictionary of Libraries in the field of Slavic and East European Studies published in Chicago in 1967 by the American Library Association. Prof. Goy published "Slavs in America," and was instrumental in the preparation of the English-Ukrainian and Ukrainian-English Dictionary published in 1984.

His doctoral thesis on diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Moscow during the Bohdan Khmelnytsky period, was published in Lviv in 1996.

Mrs. Goy is a long-standing member of UNA Branch 194, of which she is secretary, as well as the secretary of the New York District Committee of the UNA. She is the past president of both Branch 1 of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America and the New York Regional Council of the UNWLA. Today she is actively involved as New York vice-president of the Regional Council.

Mrs. Goy also served as college assistant at the City College of New York for 25 years and for many years taught school on Saturdays at the Self Reliance School of Ukrainian Studies.

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