Former UNA President Joseph Lesawyer dies (02/05/06)

Former UNA President Joseph Lesawyer dies

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - Joseph Lesawyer, former supreme president of the Ukrainian National Association (1961-1978), died on Tuesday night, January 31, in Orlando, Fla. He was 94.

Mr. Lesawyer became president of the UNA in 1961, after the death of longtime Supreme President Dmytro Halychyn. After serving the remainder of Mr. Halychyn's term, Mr. Lesawyer was elected to four terms as the UNA's top executive officer.

Mr. Lesawyer also held the post of supreme vice-president of the UNA in 1950-1954 and 1958-1961.

Among his other community leadership roles was service as an officer of both the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and the World Congress of Free Ukrainians (today known as the Ukrainian World Congress). He also served on the board of the Ukrainian Institute of America and was an officer of the Ukrainian Youth League of North America.

Mr. Lesawyer served in the U.S. Army in 1941-1945, attaining the rank of captain.

A funeral liturgy will be offered on Monday, February 6, at 3 p.m. at St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Northport, Fla. Interment will take place at Indiantown Gap Military Cemetery in Pennsylvania, the final resting place of Mr. Lesawyer's wife, Mary (née Wallick).

(A more extensive obituary of Joseph Lesawyer will appear in next week's issue.)

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