FACES AND PLACES: A prince of a fellow (06/05/05)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

A prince of a fellow

Every vibrant Ukrainian American community has at least one person who everyone agrees represents the heart of the community.

Such a heart is always beating, active, a doer, a person who is reliable, dynamic and a joy to work with.

Such a dear heart was Stephen Wichar for the Detroit-Warren corner of Ukrainian America. His heart stopped beating on May 12.

Born on October 5, 1916, in Hamtramck, Mich., Stephen was a charter member of "The Greatest Generation," someone who grew up during the Depression and went off to fight for freedom during World War II. He once told his daughter Nancy that his service as a combat engineer in Europe was the greatest experience of his life because of what it taught him about patriotism and honor.

Honorably discharged after three years of service, Sgt. Wichar took advantage of the G.I. Bill, graduating from Wayne State University with a B.S. in 1952. Two years later he received his master's of education from the same university. He became a vocational education teacher and, eventually, a department head in the Detroit Public Schools. He retired in 1983.

Steve met his future wife, Nadia Osadchuk, in elementary school. She passed away in 2003 after 63 years of marriage. Both lived to see not only their grandchildren, but great-grandchildren as well.

Mr. Wichar was unique, a man of many talents and passions, a kind of Ukrainian renaissance man. He was a musician - he was once a member of the Kobzar Mandolin Orchestra - a sculptor who molded exquisite figures of Kozaks - and a writer who contributed to The Ukrainian Weekly, Narodna Volya and a host of other English-language Ukrainian publications.

Teacher salaries during Steve's tenure were meager, forcing him to work two and three jobs in order to send Nancy and her brother, Steve Jr., to college. "It was never a question of if we were going to college," Nancy told a Detroit Free Press reporter. "It was 'Where do you want to go?' He paid the whole shot, for both my brother and myself." Nancy and Steve Jr. followed their father into the teaching profession.

During his long life Steve compiled a prodigious list of accomplishments in the Ukrainian community of Detroit-Warren. As president of the Warren Ukrainian Village Corp. since 1984 he coordinated numerous commemorations, fund-raisers and banquets on behalf of the senior citizens' facility. Steve initiated the Ukrainian Village Children of Chornobyl Fund, as well as the Lviv Oblast Clinical Hospital (LOCH) Henry Ford Hospital/UVCorp Partnership Fund.

Mr. Wichar was a national executive board member of the Ukrainian Fraternal Association for 16 years, eight of these as first vice-president. He helped organize the first UFA Youth Festival at the Verhovyna Resort. He also served as vice-president of the UNA District Committee of Greater Detroit.

Steve was a dedicated member of the Ukrainian American Veterans (UAV), serving in a variety of posts, including Michigan UAV state commander. In his remarks at the funeral services, Oleh R. Cieply, present UAV state commander, reminded those present of the many activities Steve organized on behalf of the UAV.

"Perhaps the greatest monument to his work on behalf of the UAV is the UAV Michigan Post 101 Memorial at Fort Custer National Cemetery," Mr. Cieply said. "This memorial was built by a committee under Stephen's able chairmanship, to become a lasting reminder that men and women of Ukrainian descent served in the armed forces of the United States and contributed to the defense of freedom and democracy."

There was hardly a Ukrainian cause, a Ukrainian initiative, a Ukrainian need with which Steve was not involved, whether it was teacher curriculum seminars for the promulgation of knowledge about the Holodomor, fund-raisers for the John Demjanjuk Defense Fund, establishment of a local chapter of Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine (AHRU), serving on the executive board of the Coordinating Committee for Aid to Ukraine, the executive board of the Ukrainian Graduates of Detroit and Windsor, as chairman of the supervisory committee of the Selfreliance Ukrainian Federal Credit Union, and as a trustee of the Mary V. Beck Scholarship Program "Ucrainica," or co-chairing a project to restore the Ukrainian room at Wayne State's Manoogian Hall.

His many contributions were recognized and cherished by local Ukrainians who honored him with a testimonial banquet in 1988 for 50 years of community service. The Ukrainian Graduates of Detroit and Windsor presented him with their prestigious "Ukrainian of the Year Award" in 1965.

Like many Ukrainians of his generation, Steve Wichar was a committed and active Democrat who enjoyed a visible presence on the local as well as national American political scene serving, most recently, as Michigan chairman for Clinton/Gore. In this arena of our lives, he and I disagreed, but he never let American politics interfere with our friendship or blind us to Ukrainian areas of common endeavor.

It was a privilege to know Steve Wichar for many, many years. Lesia and I will miss his infectious smile, his warm personality, his optimism, his helping ways. Verily, I say to you, it can be truly said, this man was a prince of a fellow. Vichna Yomu pamiat!

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

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