Oksana Danylyk

My dear mother, Oksana Danylyk, passed away on September 2, 2023, at the age of ninety-eight. She fought hard to regain her strength after hip surgery but lost the battle after two weeks. She was predeceased by her loving husband Michael Danylyk in 2012 and her grandson Andrei Filenko in 2016. She is survived by her daughter Helen Larysa Filenko and Son-in-law Alexander, her grandson Taras Filenko, and Daughter-in-law Allison, and two great granddaughters, Merrin Filenko and Lillian Filenko.

Oksana was born to Vasyl Rajewsky and Zinaida Zahorowska in Sarny, Volyn Ukraine on April 10, 1925.

Vasyl Rajewsky was a Sotnyk (Captain) in the Petlura Army during the first World War. He continued defending his beloved Ukraine throughout his lifetime. During World War II, he was one of seven men commanding the Ukrainian Underground Army (Poliska Sich), led by Taras Bulba in Volyn, Ukraine from 1942-1943. In 1943 Soviet Partisans killed him along with six other commanders while they slept hidden in the woods near the village of Vilia. All seven men gave their lives fighting for the freedom of Ukraine from the Russians and Germans. They were buried in a common grave. My mother was enormously proud of her father. She continued her father's mission in life to forever fight for the cause of affirming Ukrainian National Identity and achieving freedom from oppression.

Zinaida Zahorowska Rajewska was a graduate of a teaching seminary (college). Oksana was always with her mother during the school days and as a result at the age of four she could already read.

My mother finished elementary school in the Polish language in Volynia and Polisha because the Polish government closed all Ukrainian schools. When she was ready for gymnasium (high school) she had to move to Peremysh and enroll in The Institute for Girls, a private Ukrainian high school and boarding school. Since Oksana learned Ukrainian at home, she quickly adapted to curriculum taught in the Ukrainian Language. Then she had to finish high school in Sarny at a Soviet Union school. In the fall of 1940, she again had to move due to the conditions of constant German or Russian occupation. Her father took her to Rivne where she enrolled in a newly organized nursing/midwife school.

It was there in Rivne during the German occupation that she met her future husband, Michael Danylyk. In 1942, Oksana graduated from nursing school. At that time, the Germans were rounding up young single people, ages seventeen to twenty-two to send to Germany. Married couples and pregnant women were spared. Oksana and Michael Danylyk decided to marry on June 11, 1943. They were able to escape to Lustenau, Austria where their daughter was born in 1944.

When Germany lost the war, France took charge in Lustenau. The French agreed to repatriate back to Russia anyone who they considered Soviet Union citizens. So many Ukrainians died trying to escape this fate. Oksana, Michael, and infant daughter were able to flee to the American Displaced Persons Camp in Munich, Bavaria where they lived from 1945 to 1949.

Oksana and Michael obtained a sworn statement of sponsorship to Houston, Texas from Bill Kury (Kuriwchak), an American of Ukrainian heritage. This momentous event was made possible through the efforts of Victor Balaban who was brought to Houston by his uncle Mychalo Balban. My mother and father immigrated to America in 1949. Their ship docked in New Orleans and the young couple landed on American soil with one little wooden suitcase. Representatives of the Ukrainian Organization ZUDAK met my parents at the dock and gave them $10 and train tickets to Houston where they started a wonderful new life.

My mother learned enough English to apply for a nursing position at St. Joseph's Hospital in downtown Houston. She was hired to work as a nurse's aid until she improved her English language skills enough to be promoted to a graduate nurse's position. After taking a high school exam that every foreign applicant has to pass, she went to Austin, Texas to take her State Board and received her American nursing license. She worked as a night shift nurse in the post-partum section of St. Joseph's.

After ten years at St. Joseph's, Oksana became Chief Nurse at The Blood Bank of Houston. Then she took positions at Memorial Hospital and then on to public health nursing. The city health department invited her to take courses that would enable her to become a Nurse Practitioner. She left Houston for Newark, New Jersey where she completed her training to receive her Certificate of Nurse Practitioner.

Throughout all the years of her pursuing her nursing career she kept alive her passion for the Ukrainian cause. My mother was an accomplished nurse and an enthusiastic community organizer. In 1950, Michael Danylyk, with his wife forever by his side, and the Ukrainians from the first immigration prior to World War II who settled in Houston, and Ukrainians who immigrated after World War II met to form the Ukrainian American Club. Their initial goal was "publicize the fight Ukrainians have carried on for many years to achieve independence from Russia." (The Houston Post)

Also in 1950, my mother and her husband, plus seventeen Ukrainian families, formed a committee to contact the Philadelphia Eparchy to express their desire to establish a Ukrainian Catholic Church in Houston. From that day forward Oksana Rajewsky Danylyk worked tirelessly to build a Ukrainian church and promote the Ukrainian culture. To her dying day, she passionately loved her family, her church, her Ukrainian heritage, and the Ukrainian community in Houston, Texas.

In lieu of flowers please send donations to Pokrova Ukrainian Catholic Church.

A visitation for Oksana will be held Tuesday, September 12, 2023 from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM and the Panachyda officiated by father Dovshuk at 6:00PM at Earthman Resthaven, 13102 North Fwy, Houston, TX 77060. A funeral service will occur Wednesday, September 13, 2023 from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM at Pokrova Ukrainian Catholic Church (Protection of Mother of God), 9102 Meadowshire St, Houston, TX 77037. A committal service will occur Wednesday, September 13, 2023 from 12:00 PM to 12:30 PM at Earthman Resthaven Funeral Home and Cemetery, 13102 North Fwy, Houston, TX 77060.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.earthmanresthavenfuneralhome.com for the Danylyk family.