Maria Ivanovna [Steblinska] Tkachuk, wife of the late Very Rev. Igor Tkachuk, passed away on Wednesday, September 29, 2004 here.
Born on January 1, 1919 in Ostrog, Volhynia province, in what is today Ukraine, she was married in February 1940 in Warsaw, Poland. After her husband’s ordination to the Holy Priesthood the same month, the Tkachuks served parishes in Poland until 1943. From 1944 until 1952, they served parishes in Germany. In 1952, Father Tkachuk arrived in the US, while she remained in Europe coping with TB which she had caught in a displaced persons’ camp. Eventually she was transferred to a TB sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland, where she underwent surgery to remove the diseased portions of her lungs, which enabled her to join her family in the US in 1954. The Tkachucks continued to serve parishes, most recently the Cathedral of the Transfiguration, Brooklyn, NY, until Father Tkachuk’s retirement in 1983.
She was preceded in death by her husband in 1995.
She is survived by her son, the Very Rev. John Tkachuk, Montreal; her daughter, Nina Tkachuk Dimas; two grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.
A Memorial will be celebrated at the Urban Funeral Home, 42-17 69th St. [near Queens Blvd.], Woodside, NY on Thursday, September 30 at 7:00 p.m.
The Burial Service will be celebrated at the Cathedral of the Transfiguration 228 North 12 St. [at Driggs Ave.], Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY on Friday, October 1 at 7:00 p.m.
The Divine Liturgy, followed by interment at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Grand Ave. and Remsen, Maspeth, Queens, NY, will be celebrated at the cathedral on Saturday, October 2 at 9:00 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be sent to the Transfiguration Cathedral Preservation Trust Fund, PO Box 395, Brooklyn, NY 11222.
May her memory be eternal!