Former UNA vice-president Stephen Kuropas dies (08/26/01)

Former UNA vice-president Stephen Kuropas dies

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - Stephen Kuropas, the oldest honorary member of the UNA and former supreme vice-president, died on Saturday, August 11, at the age of 100.

Born in October of 1900, Mr. Kuropas fought in the Austrian army during World War I and with the Ukrainian Galician division against Poland. After his miltary obligations brought him to Czechoslovakia, he earned a degree in agronomy from Charles University in Prague. Mr. Kuropas later moved back to Ukraine, but immigrated to America in 1927 in order to avoid service in the Polish military, for which he had been drafted.

In the United States, Mr. Kuropas quickly became an active member of the UNA. A member of Branch #221, Mr. Kuropas went on to found six UNA branches - 393, 398, 415, 423, 428 and 452. He held the title of supreme controller of the UNA for 25 years of uninterrupted service. When the supreme president of the UNA unexpectedly passed away, requiring the supreme vice-president to assume the role of leadership, Mr. Kuropas filled the newly vacated position of supreme vice-president and fulfilled the duties of that office for eight years. Eventually he became the first president of the UNA Seniors. He even wrote a regular column called "The Chicago Chronicle" for Svoboda, the UNA's Ukrainian language newspaper.

Mr. Kuropas was also an officer in the Organization for the Rebirth of Ukraine (ODWU) Branch #2, assuming this position after the branches of the Ukrainian Veterans' Organization (UVO) combined to form the ODWU at the urging of Col. Evhen Konovalets, head of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). Mr. Kuropas edited the ODWU's newspaper, "Samostina Ukraina."

Mr. Kuropas also helped resettle displaced persons from World War II as part of the United Ukrainian Relief Committee (UUARC). He sponsored immigrant families and aided in their search for employment.

The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America awarded Mr. Kuropas the Shevchenko Freedom Award in 1972. In addition, he has been honored by the UNA District Committee of Chicago, the ODWU and the Encyclopedia of the Ukrainian Diaspora.

Mr. Kuropas is survived by his son, Dr. Myron B. Kuropas, with his wife Lesia; daughter Vera Gojewycz with her family; and grandchildren Christine, Katherine, Stefko, Michael and Tamara, with their families. His wife, Antoinette, is already deceased.

Funeral services were held on Thursday, August 16, 2001, at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Chicago, with the burial at St. Nicholas Cemetery.

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