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Families' histories on this page. Click on the family name for a shortcut.
Gaudun and Lakusta Families 
Nicolai (Nick) Gaudun was born on May 4, 1905, in Stanivtsi Horishni (Verkhni Stanivtsi), Kitsman’ Raion, Chernivtsi Region, Bukovyna. His mother’s name was Vasylyna Tsurkan, and his father’s name was Aftanasii Gaudun. Nick had two uncles on his father’s side, Nykyfor and Maftei. His father died at 70, leaving his mother with eight children. The oldest brother, John, took responsibility for supporting the family, going to the Boston area in the USA in 1912 (while the father was still alive). Another brother, Peter, followed John to the States in 1913, and Nick's sister, Elena, went to Brazil the same year. Nick also had a younger twin brother and sister, and the youngest sister, Frozina, born in 1910. Peter promised to take Nick to the States, but World War I broke out, and communication between them was interrupted. Because of the war, Nick only completed two grades in school. During two years of service in the Romanian army, he obtained a diploma as a telephone operator and also served as a baker.
Nick immigrated to Canada at 24, arriving in Montreal in 1929 to join his brother John, who then worked at the Queen Hotel. He lived in Montreal from 1929 to 1933, working in a bakery owned by a Russian Jew and doing road work for $25 per week, which helped him pay off his travel debt.
Stephane (Stalla) Gaudun (née Hretciuk) was about 6–7 years old when World War I started. She only attended school for one month before the war broke out. Stalla did not receive formal education; her parents, who had completed eighth grades, homeschooled their children. After the war, schools were taught in Romanian, a language her parents did not know. Stalla lost her father at 13, leaving her mother with three children. Later, her mother remarried and moved to another village. Stalla’s older sister, Raifta, immigrated to Canada and married John Lakusta. Stalla’s brother, Petro, avoided conscription in the Romanian army for two years but was eventually conscripted and treated harshly. Since Petro did not want to emigrate, Stalla’s mother insisted she go to Canada to join her sister. Stalla arrived in Canada in 1929 during the Depression. She initially worked cleaning houses, then cared for two children in a Russian-Jewish family in Kirkland Lake, ON, for six months. Afterward, she worked in a rooming house, putting in 17–18 hours daily, where she received room and board. While working there, she married Nick Gaudun and moved to Montreal on March 26, 1932 (?). Stalla later worked in meat packing for 21 cents per hour (?) and learned meat-cutting skills.
Nick and Stalla met through John and Raifta Lakusta while Stalla was still in Bukovyna. Raifta was Stalla’s older sister, and Nick’s mother and John Lakusta’s mother were close friends. After Nick and Stalla married, they lived in Montreal before moving to Ansonville, ON, where they opened their family business, Imperial Bakery. They operated the bakery until 1946 or 1947, at which point they sold it. The family then moved to St. Catharines, where they briefly owned a grocery store before opening a butcher shop in Hamilton, ON, as part of their Red and White Grocery store.
Raifta and John Lakusta owned a farm in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Nick and Stalla had three sons—Steve, Peter, and Ted—who all live with their families in Ontario.
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Opryshko Family
Opryshko family comes from the village Wisłok Wielki situated in the eastern part of Lemko land. Since 1918 this region has been within the Polish state. Members of Opryshko family received school education at primary school under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Ukrainian. Ivan Opryshko married Maria Luchka in 1925. He came to Canada at the age of 24 in 1928. He reached Winnipeg where, thanks to Saint Raphael’s Ukrainian Immigrants Welfare Association of Canada, he met William Romaniuk, a local municipal administrator from Mundare, Alberta, with connections with farmers from the Mundare-Andrew area. Along with his two friends, also from Wisłok, Ivan was taken to work on a farm, where he spent the next 6 or 7 years. Ivan's sister, Fenna, came to Canada in 1930 and settled in Vancouver. Ivan stayed in contact with Fenna and visited her in Vancouver in 1947 or 1948.
Ivan and Maria were reunited in 1932. Ivan located a homestead in Prosperity to which they moved. For Maria, the move to rural Canada was a great cultural shock, because of differences in climate, landscape, pattern of settlement, distances, community life, etc. She worked on the farm and never learned fluent English. There was no need as many of their neighbors were Ukrainians, and Ivan had learned enough of the language.
Mariya had 4 brothers and a sister. Paraska, her older sister, and her brother Mychal were sent or chose to go to Ukraine. Paraska and her daughter Anna who remained in Poland, were displaced to a village of Dobrusha in the western part of the Soviet Ukraine in 1946. Anna Chekanska lived in Ternopil. Fedir, her oldest brother, and brothers Ivan and Andriy were displaced to the north of Poland.
Ivan had 4 brothers and 2 sisters. Petro and Fitcho were sent with their mother to Ukraine. In 1946, Petro and his family were displaced to the village of Kal’ne in the western part of Soviet Ukraine. Mychal was displaced to the north of Poland (he later returned to Wislok). Maxymilian, the youngest brother, was taken to Nazi Germany for forced labor during the war, spent 3 or 4 years in Buchenwald. After he returned to Wisłok, he joined the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. During the displacement, he was imprisoned in the Labour Camp of Jaworzno for 4-5 years. After leaving the prison he went first to Northern Poland and returned to Wislok.
Many of Maria's and Ivan's relatives, for example, Ivan's brother Petro, wrote to them to Canada.
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Kuryliw Family
Anna Zabolotna Kuryliw and Wasyl (Bill) Kuryliw were Ukrainian immigrants who settled in Sudbury, Ontario, and became actively involved in Sudbury's Ukrainian community as well as in the community at large. Wasyl Kuryliw was born in the village of Potochyshche, Ukraine, in 1910. He emigrated to Canada in 1928, working first in Saskatchewan as a contract farm laborer and later finding work in various places during the Depression, including Fort William. After joining Inco, he initially worked as a miner and then trained as a welder, remaining with the company until his retirement in 1975.
Anna Zabolotna was also born in Potochysche, in 1910. After receiving her elementary education in the village, she attended high school in Horodenka and completed several courses at the University in Lviv. Wasyl Kuryliw sponsored Anna's voyage to Canada in 1936 after several years of courtship by correspondence, and the couple was married immediately following her arrival. They lived first in Kirkland Lake, moving to Sudbury in 1938. Anna and Wasyl had three children: Ihor, Sonia, and Oksana.
Known for his commitment to the Ukrainian community, Wasyl Kuryliw was a founder of the Ukrainian National Federation's Sudbury branch in 1930. Throughout his life, he remained a dedicated volunteer in the UNF - serving in various capacities, assisting in renovations and fundraising, and providing financial support. He also volunteered for "The New Pathway", a Ukrainian Canadian newspaper.
In the wider community, he encouraged many businesses to join the local Chamber of Commerce, volunteered at hospitals and supported other causes. He enjoyed teaching and playing the mandolin and other instruments. Kuryliw also played cello in the Sudbury Symphony and was an avid outdoorsman.
Anna Zabolotna Kuryliw was actively involved in the Ukrainian Women's Organization of Canada, serving as branch president, secretary and cultural co-ordinator. She also headed the National Executive's Organizational Committee.
In later years, they established the Wasyl and Anna Kuryliw Family Foundation at the 海角社区. The purpose of the foundation is to fund scholarships for those studying Ukrainian ethnography.
The couple moved to Toronto in 1995; Anna Kuryliw died in 2001 and Wasyl Kuryliw in 2004.
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Onufrijchuk Family
Roman Onufrijchuk was born June 6, 1950, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he lived until he was 6 years old. The family then moved to Yorkton, Saskatchewan, where he spent his early youth. Over the course of his life, Roman lived and worked variously in Saskatoon, SK and Edmonton, AB, where he worked at the 海角社区 radio station, and was the first radio host of the Ukrainian program on WorldFM. Following over 10 years in print, TV and radio, he arrived in Vancouver in 1982 to attend graduate school at SFU’s School of Communication, where he taught from 1985 to 2011. He then taught at the university in Izmir, Turkey. Roman passed away on June 23, 2015.
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Mazurenko Family
Fedor Mazurenko and Tatiana Deshlevi of the village of Zelenyi Roh, Kyiv province, which is about 150 km south of Kyiv, had three sons and one daughter. Andrew was born in 1890, Thomas in 1895, John in 1896 and Irene in 1899. They all immigrated to Canada. Andrew came first in 1910 (at the age of 20), Thomas in 1911 (at the age of 16), John in 1914 (at the age of 18) and Irene in 1914 (at the age of 16). They came to Canada at the strong urging of their father. Their mother died in 1911. They came to find a better life for themselves. Andrew and Thomas first worked in Cochrane, Ontario building the railroad. Later, Andrew moved to Alberta and got a homestead in Thorhild County. The homestead is still in the family as of 2017.