OBITUARY: Julian K. Jastremsky, architect of Ukrainian churches, 89 (08/01/99)

OBITUARY: Julian K. Jastremsky, architect of Ukrainian churches, 89

NEW YORK - Julian K. Jastremsky, well-known Ukrainian architect and member of the American Institute of Architects, died here on June 18 at the age of 89.

Mr. Jastremsky was born in Winnipeg in 1910, son of Thomas and Josephine (née Gayowsky) who emigrated to Canada in the 1890s from, respectively, the Bukovyna and Halychyna regions of Ukraine.

Mr. Jastremsky received a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Manitoba in 1932 and an M.S. in urban planning and housing from Columbia University in 1942.

In the 1940s he was assistant architect with the Federal Housing Agency in New York, and chief draftsman with Bethlehem Steel in charge of building design and construction for New York area shipyards.

Mr. Jastremsky opened his own architectural office, J.K. Jastremsky, Architect, in New York in 1947. Apart from institutional, industrial, commercial and residential design, he concentrated his work in the area of church architecture and design.

Among Mr. Jastremsky's principal works are the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Philadelphia; St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Newark, N.J.; Christ the King Ukrainian Catholic Church in Philadelphia; Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Westfield, N.J.; St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church in New Haven, Conn.: St. Josaphat Seminary in Washington; St. Basil Seminary in Stamford, Conn.; and the Ukrainian National Association headquarters building in Jersey City, N.J.

Mr. Jastremsky was given an award by the City of Newark for his design of St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in that city. He was a recipient also of the Construction Industry Award for the structural design of the Ukrainian cathedral in Philadelphia.

Mr. Jastremsky was one of the founding members of the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York, as well as a member of various American and Ukrainian professional and cultural associations.

Mr. Jastremsky is survived by his wife, Olga (professional name, Lepkova), a concert singer who appeared with the Lviv State Opera and on tours in Canada and the U.S., in American Red Cross benefit performances in New York during World War II, and in solo recital in New York's Town Hall.

Funeral services for Mr. Jastremsky were held on June 23 at St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church in New York, followed by interment at Holy Spirit Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery in Hamptonburg, N.Y.

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