FUNERAL FOR A GREAT MAN (1965)

My Ukrainian grandfather, Jaroslav Chmilewskyj (or Chmilewsky) died in 1965. A Renaissance man, he was a physician, artist, community leader, painter, archeologist, supporter of the arts, and many other things. I have few memories of him; I recall watching him shave in the little bathroom just outside the kitchen of his Baltimore row house, and that is about it. I know I was intimidated by him, awed. We must have been already in Hawaii when he passed, because I don't see any pictures of my mother among the mourners, and surely she would have been there had she been able to. He was sixty-nine and died of a heart attack. He was senior staff doctor at Henryton State Hospital (originally a tuberculosis hospital, but then a mental hospital). He had just retired. Here are some pictures from his funeral. I know almost no one in these shots, and hope my aunt can supply names at a later date.

My stepgrandmother Joanna Gissowska Chmilewskyj (who I called Babcia) is holding the purse and wearing the pillbox, and my Aunt Marijka has the black-lined veil across her face.

Don't know if this was a pre-funeral coffee, or a gathering afterwards.

His grave at St. Michael's Ukrainian Cemetery. Babcia is visiting. These two shots appear to have been taken a year later.

MORE MARIJKA

Here are a couple of pictures of my mother's sister, Marijka. The first is from 1959. The second she is standing next to my Dad, 1970.

MOM & MARIJKA

Herewith a shot of my mother and her sister Marijka, Christmas of 1958.

ULANOWICZ

I don't have a date for this shot, or where it was taken. I would say likely middle 1970s. My Aunt Marijka and Uncle Bob Ulanowicz, and most likely their eldest daughter Anastasia (Anya).

FAMILY FLASHBACK

Around 1983 my Aunt Marijka and two of my cousins, Anastasia (Anya) and Peter, visited my tiny little duplex in Tampa. Herewith two shot of them perusing a photo album.

CHMILEWSKA LADIES

In 1970 my mother's younger sister Marijka came down with her Mother, who we called Babcia, for an Easter visit in Charleston, not long before we left for Tampa. My mother is on the right (and, can I say it? I did not like this outfit); grandmother in the middle, and Aunt Marijka (who is also my Godmother) on the left.

The next shot is with all of us children, (l. to r.) me, Bobbie, Paul, and Beth. I would be in maybe fourth grade at this point. I didn't realize how often our parents dressed my sisters alike (I have noticed this in other shots).