Mrs. Luba Pendzey

Obituary

Luba Pendzey passed away peacefully on October 21, 2025, at the Ukrainian Canadian Care Centre. Predeceased by her husband of 54 years, Bohdan, with whom she had a deeply loving marriage based on mutual respect, shared interests and companionship. Devoted mother of Yurey and Roman (Dana Boyko). Aunt of Andrij and Tanya Tarapacky with their families, Orest Pidlisnyj and Ihor Pidlisny with their families. Also survived by relatives in Canada, United States, Poland and Ukraine.

Born in Ternopil, Ukraine, Luba and her family were forced to leave home due to World War II. After the war, she lived in a Displaced Persons (DP) camp in Landeck, Austria and then immigrated to Canada with her mother Eugenia Yankiwska in 1948. She settled in Toronto. In 1952 she married Bohdan Pendzey. Subsequently her two sons, Yurey and Roman, were born.

Luba’s career reflected her deep commitment to Ukrainian scholarship and culture. She joined the University of Toronto’s Robarts Library in 1967 and earned her Master of Library Science in 1972. Specializing in bibliographic organization and Slavic studies, she ultimately became Head of Slavic Section. She authored several bibliographies related to Ukrainian studies.

Luba was a steadfast advocate for promoting the visibility of Ukrainian and other Slavic collections. Motivated by a desire to make information accessible to other academics and to the broader public, she organized exhibits both on campus and in the broader Toronto community, on topics such as Ukrainian displaced persons, dissent in the Soviet Union, and Ukrainian book publishing in Canada.

She was active in enhancing the University’s library collection in Slavic studies, soliciting acquisitions and gifts from individual donors. She was instrumental in establishing an annual fund for the cataloging of the Solidarność collection for which she received an Honorary Gold Decoration from the Canadian Polish Congress. Luba was also recognized by various Ukrainian academic and community organizations for her many contributions during her career.

With political changes in Eastern Europe in the 1990s, Luba expanded her scope to work with libraries in the region. She took on the role of Coordinator of International Library Programs with Central and Eastern Europe. She organized exchanges of librarians with the National Library of Serbia, the National Library in Prague, and the Stefanyk Scientific Library of Lviv, Ukraine, which focused on preservation microfilming.

In 1997, Luba retired from the University of Toronto Library. She remained active in the community working with the Shevchenko Scientific Society of Canada (NTSh) and providing consulting on archival matters for various Ukrainian organizations.

Since 2021, Luba has lived at the Ukrainian Canadian Care Centre. We are sincerely grateful to staff and volunteers at the Ukrainian Canadian Care Centre for their exceptional and compassionate care.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the following charities:

Ukrainian Canadian Care Centre

 Shevchenko Scientific Society of Canada (NTSh) or

Canada-Ukraine Foundation – Dzherelo project

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