Olga Korsheniuk Johnson

Olga Korsheniuk Johnson of Avon, Farmington and Simsbury, widow of Theodore Korsheniuk and Albert Oscar Johnson, passed away peacefully on Thursday, September 20 at River Ridge of Avon under Hospice care. Born in Rivne, Ukraine in 1923, she married Theodore Korsheniuk in 1942, during World War II, before escaping across Europe from German and Russian invaders. As a result, she learned to speak five languages. After arriving by boat in New York, they settled in Brattleboro, Vermont, where their only child was born, and then moved to the Hartford area and became active in the Ukrainian community. She found a way to smuggle her mother to the United States so that she could care for her as she was dying of cancer. She lived with her husband and their daughter in Simsbury for many years, in the home the couple built together with their own hands, until her husband died in 1982. A few years later, she married Albert Oscar Johnson, who predeceased her. She then moved to a condominium in Farmington so that she could live closer to her family. She was a long-time member of St. Wolodymyr's Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its choir, and served as its lay president for many years before changing her membership to St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church toward the end of her life. She was also actively involved with the Ukrainian Women's League of America, and worked for many years as a private duty nurse for The Nurse Registry, taking care of elderly patients in convalescent hospitals and private homes until the end of their lives. She was a voracious reader and determined walker, and enjoyed painting, knitting and embroidery. She will be missed by her granddaughters Talia Pollock and Nina Pollock, who were the greatest joy of her life, and her daughter and son-in-law Natalie and Lee Pollock of Avon.

Friends may call at D'Esopo Funeral Chapel, 277 Folly Brook Blvd, Wethersfield on Sunday from 2-5 p.m. A Panahyda service will be held at 4 p.m. The Funeral Mass of Christian Burial will be Monday (September 24) at 10 a.m. at St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church, 135 Wethersfield Ave, Hartford, CT. Burial will be in Simsbury Cemetery, Simsbury, CT. Contributions in Olga's memory may be made to McLean Hospice at 75 Great Pond Rd., Simsbury, CT, 06070. For online expressions of sympathy, please visit www.desopo.com.