OBITUARY: Oresta Hryciw Kowcz, 38, Plast leader and community activist (10/19/03)

OBITUARY: Oresta Hryciw Kowcz, 38, Plast leader and community activist

BRECKSVILLE, Ohio - Oresta (Orysia) Hryciw Kowcz, an active member of Cleveland's Ukrainian community, died on October 7 of injuries sustained in a car crash near Detroit. She was 38.

Ms. Kowcz, a Cleveland banking executive, was on a business trip when her car was involved in a crash with another vehicle. She died four hours later in a hospital in Royal Oak, Mich. The driver of the other vehicle, a pickup truck, suffered minor injuries, according to the Oakland County Sheriff's Department.

Ms. Kowcz was a leader and youth counselor in Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization, as well as a member of the Plast sorority Pershi Stezhi. She was on the advisory board of the local School of Ukrainian Studies and was a former member of the Kashtan Ukrainian Dance Group.

The young community activist created the Cleveukes.com website and served as its webmaster. In addition, she served on the board of the Ukrainian Museum-Archives and in that capacity participated in the revitalization of the Tremont neighborhood where that institution is located.

Ms. Kowcz was born in Philadelphia and was a graduate of Drexel University. She earned a master's degree in business administration from Case Western Reserve University.

She was senior vice-president of corporate foreign exchange at KeyBank. She moved to Cleveland in 1987 from Philadelphia shortly after marrying fellow Plast activist Taras Kowcz. She began her banking career in 1989 with Society Bank, now Key Bank.

According to The Cleveland Plain-Dealer, which published an obituary on October 10, Mr. and Mrs. Kowcz helped many Ukrainian immigrants become acclimated to Greater Cleveland. They often opened their Brecksville home to artists and performers visiting Cleveland from Ukraine.

Surviving with her husband is their 8-year-old son, Lukash; her parents, Lucia and Theodozij Hryciw of Brecksville; and two brothers, Roman, of Ann Arbor, Mich., and Yarema, of California.

The funeral liturgy was offered at St. Andrew Ukrainian Catholic Church in Parma, Ohio, on October 11. An estimated 800 people from across the United States and Canada took part in the funeral services.

Eulogies during the funeral were delivered by the Rev. Ihor Kasian of St. Andrew's and the Rev. Mykhailo Loza of Toronto.

Speaking at the parastas were: Dr. Marko Bej, leader of the Cleveland Plast Branch; Stefania Korol of Plast's Pershi Stezhi sorority; Marta Kuzmowycz of the Supreme Plast Bulava, the worldwide umbrella body of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization; and Marta Keleher of the Kashtan ensemble.

Memorial donations may be made to: The Plast OAK Foundation (for assistance to Plast campers in need) and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

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