OBITUARY

Mykola Deychakiwsky, 81, Ukrainian freedom fighter, activist, doctor, athlete

PARMA, Ohio - Dr. Mykola Deychakiwsky, a leader in the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America and active supporter of various Ukrainian causes, died on July 11 in Parma, Ohio.

Dr. Deychakiwsky was born in the village of Yamnytsya near Ivano-Frankivsk in 1921. As a student, he was a member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), taking an active part in various actions in both Western as well as Central Ukraine. In 1944, following the creation of the Ukrainian Supreme Liberation Council (UHVR), he was sent to the West as a courier for the underground. In February 1945, while on a mission to establish contacts with the Allies, he was caught by the Nazis trying to cross the Swiss border and imprisoned in Vienna. Only the end of World War II prevented his certain execution. These and other adventures as a member of the OUN were described in his memoirs which were published in Kyiv in 1997 - "Na Vyzvolnykh Stezhkakh Evropy."

In his youth and student years, Dr. Deychakiwsky was an active athlete and played on various soccer teams in Ukraine, post-War Germany and later in the United States. In Germany, he played on the Ukrainian team which won the gold medal at the Displaced Persons Olympics in 1948.

Dr. Deychakiwsky received his medical degree from the University of Munich in 1949 and emigrated to the United States in 1950. He worked as a medical resident in Philadelphia, Chicago, and Detroit before beginning his medical practice in Cleveland in 1954. He practiced medicine in suburban Cleveland until his retirement in 1990.

Dr. Deychakiwsky was a founder of the Ohio Chapter of the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America (UMANA) and served as its president twice and as its secretary for many years. He was one of the organizers of the first UMANA Scientific Conference in Cleveland in 1956 and head of the organizing committee of an UMANA Convention held in Cleveland in 1976. He was honored for his contributions at the Association's 1982 convention. At the 35th Convention in 1999, he was recognized for his role as an "outstanding doctor, community activist and benefactor and for his selfless and tireless efforts on behalf of his Nation, profession and the Association."

In 1991, Dr. Deychakiwsky became one of the founders of the Coordinating Committee to Aid Ukraine and head of its Cleveland chapter. He was also one of the organizers of the local chapter of the Olympic Committee which assisted the Ukrainian Olympic Committee in their participation in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He was also known as a generous benefactor to various Ukrainian educational, cultural, political and civic causes. He was known by his family and numerous friends and associates as a noble, courageous, dedicated, generous, friendly and self-effacing man with a unique sense of humor and a keen interest in many issues.

Dr. Deychakiwsky leaves behind his wife of nearly 47 years, Nadia, a professional librarian and Ukrainian National Woman's League of America activist; sons Orest, a staff advisor at the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe in Washington, D.C.; Yuri, a cardiologist in suburban Washington, D.C; and Mykola, a program officer with the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation in Prague, as well as six grandchildren, a brother in Ukraine and sister in Canada.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August 4, 2002, No. 31, Vol. LXX

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