FACES AND PLACES: Last of the great UNA fraternalists (08/08/04)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

Last of the great UNA fraternalists

Bill Pastuszek and Helen Olek-Scott, two beloved fraternal members of the Ukrainian National Association, died last month, literally within weeks of each other.

Bill passed away on July 14 at age 78. To meet Bill Pastuszek was to immediately like him. To know Bill Pastuszek was to love him. A big man with a gentle heart, he was an outgoing, genial fellow who was always smiling, always ready with an anecdote. Some of his jokes were funny, most were corny. It didn't matter. Bill's laughter at his own stories was so infectious you laughed with him.

I remember Bill from past UNA conventions as a person handing out souvenir "Vote for Bill Pastuszek" pens and trying to unite squabbling factions. American-bred and born, he never quite understood the ideological infighting which the third wave of Ukrainian immigrants bagged and carried over the ocean with them from Ukraine. "We're all Ukrainians, we're all brothers and sisters in the same fraternal organization," he would say, "Why are we fighting?"

His accomplishments in the Ukrainian community are legendary. A member of the UNA General Assembly for over 20 years, he enrolled hundreds of new members, the life-blood of the UNA, and was annually found among the top two or three UNA sign-up champions. While other members of the General Assembly argued, Bill signed up members.

After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he sponsored some 200 displaced Ukrainians in the 1950s, led the annual January 22 Ukrainian Independence Day commemorations in Chester, Pa., for 35 years, and served as a 57-year member and past director of the Ukrainian National Home in Chester. A distinguished member of two Ukrainian Orthodox Church councils (Wilmington and Chester) he was a 20-year member of the Metropolitan Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and was honored for his service by the late Patriarch Mstyslav.

A phenomenally successful real estate developer and long-time member of the Rotary, Bill was awarded the Distinguished Business Achievement Award for his contributions to the overall vitality of Delaware County.

Married to Theodozia, nee Kiziuk, for 56 years, Bill fathered two sons and a daughter and was the proud grandfather of six grandchildren.

Our second fraternalist, Helen Olek, passed away on July 31 at age 91. She belonged to that pantheon of the now deceased second generation of Ukrainian American women which included Anne Wasylowsky, Mary Dushnyck and Pauline Riznyk who contributed their time and talents to our community. Bright, beautiful, charming, gracious and energetic, Helen was born in Chicago in 1913, the eldest of five children of the Tymko Bahry family. Like many Depression-era children, she had to go to work early in life, unable to complete an academic high school. Instead, she spent years working as a secretary and, later, as an administrative assistant.

Helen began her Ukrainian activities in Chicago as a delegate to the first 1933 Ukrainian Catholic Youth League (now the League of Ukrainian Catholics convention). She met and married Nicholas Olek of Cleveland, and moved to that city where she helped establish the primary school at Ss. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church. She was also active in developing Ukrainian cultural displays associated with the Cleveland Cultural Gardens. When Nick was transferred to Chicago, she and her husband became active in the establishment of St. Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic Church on Chicago's northwest side. Nick and Helen were Republicans who were instrumental in the creation of the Republican State Nationalities of Illinois.

A member of the Ukrainian National Association since childhood, Helen was elected secretary of UNA Branch 22. As secretary, Helen enrolled hundreds of new UNA members, maintaining her place among the top sign-up champions for many years. Always finding new fraternal activities for her members, Helen had the most active UNA branch in the Chicago area. She visited the sick and found ways to assist indigent members of her branch.

First elected an advisor to the UNA Supreme Assembly in 1962, Helen Olek served through 1970 and then in 1978-1994, when she decided not to run. During her many years on the General Assembly (as the Supreme Assembly was later called), Helen was always one to push for greater understanding among assembly members, some of whom remained more loyal to their political ideologies than to the UNA. Helen never quite understood this attitude.

Helen's son Steve Olek was an Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War. In 1965, while an air cadet of the 66-C Wing Class at Webb Air Force Base in Texas, Steve convinced his class to adopt the trident as their class emblem and to call themselves the "Flying Cossacks."

Nick Olek passed away in 1980. Helen later married Walter Scott, another active Ukrainian and a friend of the family.

During their long and productive lives, William Pastuszek and Helen Olek-Scott lived up to the fraternal principles upon which the Ukrainian National Association was founded. First articulated by Svoboda in 1893, the mission of the UNA, then known as the Ruskyi Narodny Soyuz, was: 1) to help ailing members and to pay death benefits; 2) to establish reading rooms and evening schools for adults; 3) to promote enlightenment among our people; 4) to insist that Rusyns become American citizens; 5) to organize political clubs and to take an active part in elections; 6) to defend our people against crooks and corrupt operators.

Bill and Helen are the last of the "greatest generation" of Ukrainian fraternalists who grew up during the Depression, experienced the second world war, succeeded in their American careers, raised a family, and never, ever forgot their Ukrainian brethren. Second-generation Ukrainian Americans, they responded to the call of the UNA fraternal community and served as models of emulation for those of us trying to follow in their footsteps. Unique in their commitment, bountiful in their contributions, Bill and Helen will be sorely missed.

Myron Kuropas's e-mail address is: [email protected].

| Home Page |