Anya Maria Nykyforiak

Anya Maria Nykyforiak passed away peacefully Wednesday evening at 6:41 p.m. at Capital Care Hospice at Sibley Memorial Hospital after a 28-month battle against cancer. She was surrounded by her family and friends in her final days.

Anya was born and raised in the Detroit area by Ukrainian post-WWII immigrant parents. She was active in the Ukrainian community and attended Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic Schools, graduating high school with the class of 1974. Anya spent her summers in the Catskills and helped run the small family resort, Catskill Park Farm, in Lexington, NY. When not working in the kitchen with her mother, she received painting instructions from Ukrainian artists who stayed at the resort, often painting landscapes of the Esopus Creek near Phoenicia, NY. Anya was also a talented pianist and had many students to whom she gave lessons.

Anya received her Bachelor of Science degree from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan and went on to receive a Master of Arts in Arts Administration at Indiana University, Bloomington where she also worked as a resident assistant. She moved to Washington D.C. in the fall of 1982, working in various arts-related jobs including with The Sculpture Center and a stint with PBS before starting with the National Endowment for the Arts in 1987, initially running the Fellows Program and later becoming a music specialist in the Music Program where she remained until her passing.

Anya is preceded in death by her parents, Jaroslaw and Olha Nykyforiak, brothers-in-law Nicolas Grandjean and Mazyn Nona, and sister-in-law Liz Anne Whitelaw of Frederick, MD. She leaves behind her loving husband James H. Whitelaw, sisters Christine and Marichka, brother Gene, sister-in-law Patricia Whitelaw Hill, four nieces (Anya, Larysa, Amelia with husband Fernando, Clara with husband Vlad), six nephews (Gregoire with wife Charlotte, Alexis, Michael, Mark, Graham with wife Sylvia, Nathaniel with wife Olga), grand niece (Emery) and grand nephews (Graham Jr., Bennett, and Henry). In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in her memory to support Ukraine: https://www.razomforukraine.org/donate/