Maria Pryszlak nee Cherevchenko, July 7, 1925 - September 19, 2024. Born in the village of Vii’skove, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Died in the Ukrainian Canadian Care Centre, Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada. She was predeceased by her husband, Michael, in 2004.

Maria Cherevchenko was born on July 7, 1925. She was the youngest of twelve children born to Kostyantin Cherevchenko and Motryna Juravel, descendants of Ukrainian Zaporozhian Kozaks in the village of Vii’skove, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. After surviving the Holodomor imposed on Soviet Ukraine during 1932-33, she attended her village school in relative comfort until 1941 when the German invasion of the USSR began. With the fall of Soviet Ukraine into German hands, Maria’s education abruptly ended after the 8 th grade with the suspension of all education for Ukrainian children by the governing German Reichskommissariat.

A year later, in 1942, she was added to the list of villagers to be deported to Germany for slave labour as an “OST Arbeiter”. She initially was put into a concentration camp near the town of Spergau, south of Merseberg in Saxony-Anhalt, which provided labourers for the Leuna Werke complex, Germany’s largest chemical production facility. Six months later, she was transferred to an easier job for the remainder of the war, working in the kitchen of a small hotel a few miles to the north in the city of Halle (Saale). In Halle, Maria met and married her husband Michael Pryszlak, a western Ukrainian from the village of Bortiatyn, Lviv Oblast which is part of Ukraine today. During their occupation by the American Army, she and her husband escaped westward toward the British occupied sector and settled in the town of Gottingen where they were placed into a displaced persons (DP) camp.

Shortly after, Maria gave birth to her daughter Julia. For 3 ½ more years they lived in DP camps until Canada accepted them for immigration. In Canada, Maria and her husband had 2 more children, Michael Jr. and Bohdan. In 1964, the family moved to the USA and resided in Los Angeles, California until returning to Canada in 1968. They were thankful to God for the lives they were able to live in the US and Canada.
Maria was a wonderful cook and baker and her delicious food is often remembered by her grandchildren. She was also an accomplished seamstress and her outfits rivaled the best designers. She loved walking in the rain and crunching through the snow. Maria had many friends and was well-liked by neighbors and co-workers.
Maria is survived by her children, Julia, Michael (Luba), and Bohdan; grandchildren Julie, Natalie, Roman, Christina, Michael, Katherine, Emily, Roman, and John; great-grandchildren Oksana, Olena, Lucas, Ariana, Amelia and Alisia; and great-great grandson Jude.