Obituary
Due to the current pandemic restrictions and under direction from our regulator, the Bereavement Authority of Ontario, effective November 14, 2020 all funerals and visitations will be by invitation only to limit the number of people in attendance and prevent the spread of COVID-19. We encourage those that are unable to attend in person to express their sympathy by posting a message of condolence to our website, donating to a charity of your choice in memory of your loved one or by sending flowers to the funeral home.
It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our dear Mother, Busia and Pra-Busia, Anna Burij. Anna (Nusia) passed away peacefully on the evening of December 30, 2020 at the Ivan Franko Home in Mississauga after progressively deteriorating health. She was 95.
Anna was preceded in death by her husband Yakiv Burij, daughter Ulana (Kreso) Perovic, brother Mykhajlo Bulelyk, stepbrother Petro Bulelyk, and parents Andrij and Melania Bulelyk. She is survived by her daughter Luba (John) Patterson, grandchildren Misha (Michelle) Patterson, Sonja Patterson and Ariana Patterson, and great-grandchildren Jakob and Luke Weeks, and Sloane and Rhys Patterson.
Anna was born in the village of Zarichya, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ukraine, on May 8, 1925. She witnessed the horrors of WWII and was herself detained and questioned by both the Soviets and the Germans for her work as a secret courier for the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). Anna and her mother fled their village in 1944, making it out in the nick of time: the Soviet army was already entering Zarichya and theirs was the last train to leave the station. Her father Andriy was not so lucky, and Anna never saw her father again.
Anna descibed her post-war years in a DP camp in Regensburg, Germany, as some of the happiest of her life: enjoying friendships made in PLAST and choirs; assisting the local police and working as a nurse; and meeting her future husband Yakiv. The young family eventually made their way to Canada: Yakiv first, followed by Anna and her mother, as well as infant daughter Luba. Yakiv and Anna went on to build a prosperous new life for themselves in Toronto, with Anna working as a seamstress in the city’s garment district, and Yakiv as a surveyor.
Ukraine, however, stayed close to their hearts and they dedicated much of their free time to helping build their adopted country’s Ukrainian community. In the early days, they spearheaded the construction of the Taras Shevchenko Cultural Centre on Horner Avenue, securing the necessary funding to provide Ukrainians in western Toronto with a much-needed community hall.
In the following years, Anna went on to volunteer for various Ukrainian organizations, including the Ukrainian Catholic Women’s League of Canada, the League of Ukrainian Canadian Women, the Ukrainian Canadian Women's Council, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and Ukrainian Canadian Social Services. She was an active participant in Ukrainian events organized across the city – and helped out at just about every Ukrainian banquet, festival, Independence Day celebration, Christmas or Easter exhibit that took place.
Anna also continued to help her native homeland, setting up student awards for graduates of her old school in Zarichya, helping her close friend Anna Jaworsky in her initiative to build a new school of higher learning in the village, and contributing to the construction of Zarichya’s new Ukrainian Catholic Church.
For her extraordinary dedication to Ukraine and Canada’s Ukrainian community, Anna was honoured with numerous awards, including the Ontario Senior Achiement Award, bestowed by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, all well deserved. She will forever be remembered for her active volunteerism, her passionate dedication to all things Ukrainian, and her tireless work ethic. She was an inspiration to many.
Visitation will be held at Cardinal Funeral Home, Annette Chapel, on Monday, January 4, 2020, followed by a Funeral Mass at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church on Queen Street West. Due to COVID restrictions, attendance will be limited to close family and friends. Condolences, however, can be shared at www.cardinalfuneralhomes.com. In lieu of flowers, donations to the following causes or charity of your choice would be appreciated:
Pomich Ukraini Fund
c/o Ukrainian Canadian Social Services (Toronto)
2445 Bloor Street West
Toronto, ON M6S 1P7
Guardian Angels Ukraine
c/o League of Ukrainian Canadian Women
9 Plastics Avenue,
Etobicoke, ON M8Z4B6
OR
Buduchnist Credit Union Account #69026
