The Kule Folklore Centre is saddened by the passing of Ihor Kuryliw

Ihor passed away on June 4, 2022. Please follow the link to read the obituary: https://www.cardinalfuneralhomes.com/obituaries/mr-ihor-kuryliw/ 

What follows are the memories of Ihor's sister Oksana Kuryliw about his life that she kindly shared with us.  

My brother, Ihor, was born on November 14, 1939 at the old St. Joseph’s hospital on Notre Dame. His formative years were experienced in the Donovan where many Ukrainian and other Eastern Europeans immigrants lived. He attended Lansdowne Public School and became lifelong friends with Ron Good, another resident of the Donovan. When the family moved to Mabel Avenue, he attended College Street Public school, and later Sudbury High School. As a boy, he delivered the Sudbury Star. At a young age Ihor started violin lessons with Emil Furst. He was one of Emil Furst’s first students. He was accomplished soon enough that he was able to play with the Sudbury symphony at an early age and continued to do so whenever they played.

In his teens Ihor was very involved with MYNO, a Youth organization associated with Ukrainian National Federation. Most of the activities took place at the UNF hall on Frood Road. He sang, danced and played mandolin, piano, bandura or violin whenever he was needed. He displayed strong leadership skills as president of this organization, as well as other positions, locally and nationally. The highlight was the opportunity in 1953 to dance and sing at the O’Keefe Centre with Jack Palance to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this organization. He played alto horn in the Sudbury High Marching Band, and the Irish Regiment of Canada, a military band at the Sudbury Armory. He graduated from Sudbury High in the same class as Alex Trebeck.

Ihor attended University of Toronto from 1958 to 1962, and during the summers worked in the mines and smelters of INCO. When he returned to Sudbury, it was to accept a job at LaSalle Secondary School to teach history and music. During the summer breaks he traveled the world. His mother kept all the post cards from the far away places. Afghanistan, China, and numerous other places, including Switzerland where he and his wife Valentina often returned to hike its trails. 

Ihor became involved with the Sudbury Multi-Cultural Centre and the Sudbury Centennial celebrations. Regarding his appointment to the latter, Mayor Joe Fabro said, “He is the kind of young blood we need on a group of this kind.”

In 1970, Ihor married Valentina Mychajlowska, also a teacher at LaSalle, and although he loved teaching, in 1973, they made the decision to leave Sudbury and he started a new career that involved his love of  travel at Bloor Travel Agency in Toronto.

He returned often to Sudbury to visit with his parents and friends. Before his death we talked often about our lives in Sudbury and how lucky we were to have been born in Canada and brought up in Sudbury.  

May he rest in peace.

Вічная пам'ять.