Funeral services for Priest Ian Bojko, 78, the longest-serving rector of Holy Annunciation Church here, will be held at the church on Wednesday, January 30, 2013.
Father Ian fell asleep in the Lord on the evening of January 25, 2013.
He was born in Ukraine in August 1934. During the German Occupation, he lived with his father’s family in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, where he received his primary education. In 1943, his family emmigrated to Slovenia and settled in Lindau, Germany.
After the war, he attended the Russian Gymnasium for “stateless persons,” Munich, Germany, and was active in the life of the parish there. In December 1950, the Bojkos arrived in Australia as displaced persons.
He was tonsured to the order of Reader in 1953 and served various parishes in Australia. In January 1964, he was ordained to the diaconate and assigned to the Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. In August 1988, he was transferred to the Orthodox Church in America and ordained to the priesthood the following year, at which time he was appointed rector of the newly established Holy Annunciation Church, one of a small number of Australian parishes that at that time had come to embrace the OCA. [The parish today is within the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and is listed as “Brisbane’s English-language Orthodox parish”—see http://holy annunciation.net.]
Ill health forced Father Ian to retire from pastoral ministry in 2005. He continued to reside in Brisbane.
May Father Ian’s memory be eternal!