Short Biography Outline
Oleh & Bozhena Iwanusiw
Abridged Family history
Family History.
Oleh Iwanusiw was born on 1935.07.28 in Watsewychi (Today - Zaluzhany), Ukraine.
Before coming to Canada in June 1948, Oleh lived in Ukraine, Poland, Austria and Germany.
After coming to Canada, Oleh lived in Picture Butte, Lethbridge, Edmonton and Toronto.
After completing high school and obtaining a B.Sc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Alberta (1957) in Edmonton, Oleh moved to Toronto.
Bozhena Wertyporoch was born on 1939.04.04 in Warszawa, Poland.
Before coming to Canada in the fall of 1948 Bozhena lived in Ukraine, Poland, Austria and Germany. She completed her education and continues to live in Toronto to this date.
Lately, Bozhena has been accompanying Oleh on some of his consulting ventures including Australia, New Zealand, South America and South-East Asia.
Oleh & Bozhena were married in Toronto in August of 1958 and settled in Toronto.
Their first child, a daughter - Olesia, was born in 1959. Another daughter – Olena, was born in 1962; a son – Danylo, arrived in 1965 and another son – Ihor arrived in 1968.
Today:
Olesia Iwanusiw, a forestry engineer, became Olesia VanDyke by marrying Alfred VanDyke, another forestry engineer, and they live near Pemboke, Ontario.
Olena Iwanusiw, a computer professional, became Olena Coba by marrying Roman Coba, another computer & business professional, and they live in Toronto.
Danylo Iwanusiw, a plumber by trade, married Oksana Kucherepa, a book keeper, and they live in Mississauga.
Ihor Iwanusiw, a sports health professional & enthusiast – but works as a fireman in Toronto, lives in Wasaga Beach north of Toronto.
In total, Bozhena & Oleh Iwanusiw have eight grandchildren - Jason, Jarema, Nadia, Andriy, Zenon, Larysa, Levko & Teodor.
Professional History.
After receiving his B.Sc in EE (1957) at the U of A, Oleh moved to Toronto and obtained an engineering position at Ontario Hydro. After completing the initiation and training course, Oleh secured a position as an instrumentation engineer at the Ontario Hydro W.P. Dobson Research Laboratory. He continued working at the research laboratory to December 1978, climbing the Ontario Hydro “engineering ladder” from MP1 . . . to . . . MP5.
In 1972, Oleh formed a partnership under the name of Olman Instruments that designed and produced test equipment for the power industry. Later on, in January 1979 Oleh joined Olman Instruments as the president. Oleh remained with the firm in various capacities – primarily as a “Technical Director” while the firm changed ownership and its name to - Multi-Amp Canada and later to AVO International.
On June 1994, AVO International closed the manufacturing facility in Toronto. Thus Oleh, together with 65 other employees lost their jobs.
Starting June 1995, Oleh started a consulting business and has remained a consultant to this date. Oleh’s consulting practice takes him primarily to India and Ukraine, but did involve other countries such as: Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Malaysia, Egypt, New Zealand, . . . yes - and even USA.
Oleh prides himself with several original developments in the field of electrical test & measurement field. These primarily deal with the measurement of the quality of electrical insulation and the accuracy of instrument transformers. Although lacking the funds to “run to the patent office”, most of these were developed into test equipment that are currently manufactured.
Oleh is registered as a “Volunteer Advisor” (VA) with CESO (Canadian Executive Services Overseas - a branch of Canadian International Development Agency, Department of Foreign Affairs) and has undertaken several project for the Canadian Government.
Social History.
Oleh is the president of The Foundation of the Encyclopedia of Ukraine. The foundation collects funds from the public and uses these funds to fund research and publication of works dealing with Ukrainian culture, history and education. The main activity lately has been to collect funds and to distribute these as bursaries to needy and socially active university students in Ukraine. In excess of 2,000 such bursaries have been distributed over the last ten years.
Bozhena has been an active member of Ukrainian Youth Association “PLAST” (Scouts) and continues to be a member in various leadership positions. Some time back she joined the Ukrainian Canadian Social Services (UCSS) - an organization that assists people of Ukrainian descent in Canada, Ukrainians in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world. Currently she is the Canadian President of UCSS. The UCSS has about 10 branches across Canada and one of their main projects is to assists in the operation of 36 soup kitchens for the needy in Ukraine.
Both Oleh & Bozhena have been and continue to be active members of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.
Bozhena and Oleh have traveled the world, going to the Soviet Ukraine as far back as 1965 and 1971. Their more recent travels to Europe, in the 1980-ies, have resulted in a publication entitled:
- CHURCH in RUINS.
(1987, ISBN 0-9691657-3-0, 360 pages, 500 colour prints, English and Ukrainian text).
This publication deals with the mass destruction of Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox churches in Poland. Most of this happened primarily in the period immediately after WWII.
In addition to the above publication, Oleh & Bozhena funded other publications, namely:
- CHURCHES of UKRAINE – Peremyshl Eparchy by Wasyl Slobodian
(1998, ISBN 966-02-0362-4, 860 pages, 980 B&W illustrations, Ukrainian text). - CHURCHES of UKRAINE – Zakarpattia by Mykhailo Syrokhman.
(2000, ISBN 066-95739-0-4, 880 pages, 1020 B&W illustrations, Ukrainian text). - Butterfly Memories by Iryna Senyk - Autobiography.
(2003, ISBN 966-8461-00-2, 288 pages, Colour, 1300 embroidery patterns, English and Ukrainian text). - In Memory of Metropolitan Volodymyr Sterniuk – Memoirs and Photographs.
(2007, ISBN 966-8461-39-8, 68 pages, B&W illustrations, soft colour cover, English and Ukrainian text).