Mary Dushnyck, former vice-presidentess of Ukrainian National Association, dies (09/22/02)

Mary Dushnyck, former vice-presidentess of Ukrainian National Association, dies

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - Mary Dushnyck, four-term supreme vice-presidentess of the Ukrainian National Association, died in Brooklyn, N.Y., on September 13. She had turned 91 on September 3.

In recognition of her long years of service and contributions to the UNA on the national level, in 1982 Mrs. Dushnyck was voted an honorary member of the UNA Supreme Assembly (today called the General Assembly).

She was known in the UNA as a leader on women's, youth and sports and cultural issues, serving and chairing UNA committees that focused on those fields of endeavor. She was the longtime chair of the Supreme Assembly's Women's Committee and was the initiator and moving force behind efforts to erect a monument to poet Lesia Ukrainka at Soyuzivka.

Mrs. Dushnyck was particularly active in promoting women's involvement in the fraternal organization, and she authored numerous articles on the role of women in the UNA. She was active as well in the New York District Committee, serving for many years as the English-language press liaison, as well as in Branch 293 of Brooklyn.

As a UNA executive officer Mrs. Dushnyck was a delegate representing the organization to various Ukrainian congresses and conventions, among them those of the World Congress of Free Ukrainians and the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.

She was active in UNA sports since 1956 when the first tennis tournament was held at Soyuzivka under the auspices of the Carpathian Ski Club (KLK) and Ukrainian Sports Federation of the U.S.A. and Canada (USCAK). She herself competed in those tournaments and won a women's title in 1956. For decades Mrs. Dushnyck was the sponsor of a sportsmanship trophy awarded at the annual national tennis championships at Soyuzivka.

Mrs. Dushnyck was active also in the Ukrainian National Women's League of America, World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations, National Council of Women of the U.S., International Council of Women, Captive Nations Week Committee and the New York Fraternal Congress. She was involved in charitable and human rights activity, especially assistance to refugees and the reunion of families separated since World War II, as well as in liaison with Eastern European and various other ethnic groups.

She was actively involved in politics and was a stalwart of the Republican Party, serving as an officer of the Ukrainian National Republican Federation and as a member of the Heritage Groups Women's Advisory Council.

Mrs. Dushnyck was involved in planning and conducting events as diverse as UNA Human Rights Day in Washington, Ukrainian Independence Day programs and St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church's Seventh Street Festival in New York City. In addition, readers of The Ukrainian Weekly saw Mrs. Dushnyck's byline above articles on topics as wide-ranging as political gatherings and women's issues.

Surviving is her son, Mark. Mrs. Dushnyck's husband, Walter, died on September 5, 1985. Dr. Dushnyck, a scholar, author and journalist, was longtime editor of The Ukrainian Quarterly and a former editor of The Ukrainian Weekly.

Memorial services for Mrs. Dushnyck were held at the Bay Ridge Funeral Home in Brooklyn on Sunday and Monday, September 15-16. The funeral liturgy was offered at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church in Brooklyn on Tuesday, September 17. Burial followed at Holy Spirit Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery in Hamptonburgh, N.Y.

Donations in memory of Mrs. Dushnyck may be made to The Ukrainian Museum, 203 Second Ave., New York, NY 10003.

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