Sochan family donates home to people of Khodoriv, Ukraine (11/11/01)

Sochan family donates home to people of Khodoriv, Ukraine

KHODORIV, Ukraine - Earlier this year, the three Sochan brothers - formerly of Khodoriv, a town of 12,500 located southwest of Lviv, and currently of the New York/New Jersey area - had a family meeting to discuss what to do with their home back in Ukraine.

Their decision: instead of filing a claim for the family home, which today serves as the Khodoriv Town Hall, they would donate it to their former home town, or more precisely to its people - many of whom were close friends of the Sochan family and remember the three brothers as active young boys very involved in the local community.

Located on the Luh River, a tributary of the Dnister, Khodoriv, is an ancient city of Halychyna, whose records date back to 1394 (several years ago the town celebrated its 600th anniversary). However, archaeological digs reveal that there were settlements in the area dating back to the Stone Age. Today Khodoriv bears the laurels and the scars of the history of this region of Ukraine - from Kozak graves to monuments honoring local veterans of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.

It was in Khodoriv that the Sochan boys were born and reared. They attended the town's Ridna Shkola elementary school and the Ukrainian Academic Gymnasium. They especially enjoyed sports and were members of Plast, attending summer camps in western Ukraine.

The Sochan brothers - Oleh Sviatoslav, a physician from Yonkers, N.Y., Wolodymyr Yaroslav, a retired executive officer of the Ukrainian National Association, and Ihor Roman, an engineer from Woodcliff Lake, N.J. - informed the town leaders of their decision and made plans for the property's transfer. They stipulated that the building should bear a plaque noting that it was donated in memory of their parents, Antin and Olha Sochan, to the people of Khodoriv.

Antin Sochan was born in Khodoriv in 1895 and was a veteran of the Ukrainian liberation struggle in 1918-1920. He was chief treasurer of the sugar beet-processing facility and sugar refinery in Khodoriv and also directed the local choir. He was killed during Allied bombing of Tulln, Austria, on December 11, 1944.

Olha Sochan, nee Levytsky, was born December 31, 1899, in Hryhoriv, Rohatyn county, Ukraine. She was a member of Soyuz Ukrainok and one of the founders of the Ridna Shkola in Khodoriv. After World War II she emigrated to the United States with her three sons, and settled in Jersey City, N.J. Mrs. Sochan died on March 4, 1992.

The Sochans' proposal was welcomed by Khodorivites, and the plans were set in motion. The wording for the plaque was agreed upon and a date was set for a ceremony of the building's presentation to the community. The Sochan brothers and their families began discussing who would travel to Khodoriv for the special event.

Ultimately, the honor fell to Ihor, the youngest brother, as the middle brother, Wolodymyr, unexpectedly suffered a heart attack and died several days later, on May 23, while Oleh's illness took a turn for the worse and prevented him from traveling.

Thus, Ihor was present in Khodoriv on August 24 - the date chosen by town leaders - as the town accepted the gracious donation, and he delivered an address to the residents of Khodoriv during local celebrations of Ukraine's Independence Day.

The eldest brother, Oleh, wrote a letter addressed to Khodoriv Mayor Oleh Kotsovsky and the townspeople. Speaking on behalf of all the members of the Sochan family in the United States, he sent sincere greetings to dear friends "whom we will never forget" as well as to all citizens of Khodoriv, and he asked Khodorivites to "please take care of our parents' property."

Unveiled on August 24 was a bronze plaque that reads: "This building was donated by the Sochans - Oleh, Wolodymyr and Ihor - to the community of Khodoriv on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Ukraine's independence in memory of their parents, Antin and Olha Sochan."

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