Halychyn, Stefania, 1913-1994

Stephania Halychyn (1913-1994) was born to Pavlo Perestiuk and Daria Moravska on February 22, 1913 in the town Hnylche, Pidhaitsi county, Ternopil province. Once she emigrated to the United States, she became an active organizer and leader in Ukrainian-American women's activities. She served as the organizer (1936-1938) and president (1938-41) of the Ukrainian Gold Cross. The Ukrainian Gold Cross is a humanitarian relief and educational organization of Ukrainian women in the United States. Founded in New York in 1931 as the women's auxiliary of the Organization for the Rebirth of Ukraine (ODVU), it was renamed the Ukrainian Red Cross of the ODVU (1933) and incorporated in 1940 as the Ukrainian Gold Cross. Through Halychyn's efforts the Ukrainian Gold Cross numbered some seventy branches by 1940.

Her husband Dmytro was born to Kyrolo and Julia Bodnar on October 30, 1895 in the town Dychky, Rohatyn county, Galicia. He completed his gymnasium studies in Rohatyn in 1915. During the First World War he served as a volunteer in the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, as an officer in the Austrian army and then as an officer in the Ukrainian Army. Upon concluding his studies in foreign trade at the University of Vienna in 1923, he emigrated to the United States. In the United States Halychyn played a very active role in Ukrainian community life serving in the following capacities: first president of the United of Ukrainian War Veterans of America; financial secretary of the United Ukrainian Organizations of America; active member in the Pan-American Ukrainian Conference; planner of the Ukrainian National Fund; founder, vice-chairman (1952-6), and chairman (1956-61) of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America; first chairman of the Ukrainian Section of the Republican National Committee (1953); supreme secretary (1933-50) and president (1950-61) of the Ukrainian National Association. In 1952 he received an honorary doctorate in law from the Ukrainian Free University. Dmytro Halychyn died March 26, 1961 in New York City