Ivan Bobrek
2/23/1942-5/17/2023Forever In Our Hearts
Eternal Memory ~ Вічная Пам’ять
Ivan Bobrek, 69, of Willimantic and Windham, CT passed away peacefully on Sunday, February 1, 2009 at Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, MA, with his loving family by his side.Born January 23, 1940, son of Sofia Bobrek and the late Nikola Bobrek, Ivan was a long time resident of both Willimantic and Windham, CT. He retired after many years of dedicated service from General Cable in Willimantic. He was a long standing member of St. Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church and the Ukrainian National Home. In addition to being a member of the Ukrainian National Home, he also dedicated many years of service and served on the Executive Committee. He loved to spend time with his family and enjoyed listening to traditional Ukrainian music and watching Westerns and CNN.Besides his mother Sofia of Willimantic, CT, Ivan is survived by two loving sons, Miroslav Bobrek and his wife JoAnne of Ludlow, MA and Roman Bobrek and his wife Kelly of Springfield, MA; his cherished grandson, Christian V. Bobrek also of Springfield, MA; three loving brothers: Michael Bobrek and his wife Tamara of Norwich, CT, Peter Bobrek and his wife Karen of Bradenton, FL and Pavlo Bobrek and his wife Lesia also of Bradenton; two loving sisters, Maria Oborski and her husband Josip of Willimantic, CT and Anna Koziupa and her husband Michael of Cedar Knolls, NJ, and many loved nieces, nephews and cousins. He was predeceased by a brother Stefan Bobrek.Calling hours are Thursday February 5, 2009 from 6 to 8 p.m. with a Panakhyda Service at 7 p.m. at the Bacon Funeral Home, 71 Prospect St. Willimantic. A Panakhyda Service will be held on Friday at 9:30 a.m. at the funeral home followed by a procession to St. Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church in Willimantic for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. Burial will follow in St. Joseph Cemetery in Windham, CT. In lieu of flowers, donations, in his loving memory, may be made to St. Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church, 69 Oak St. Willimantic, CT 06226. Please visit www.baconfh.com to register your condolences online.
Ivan was my oldest brother, by 15 years. My memories of Ivan go back to when I was not much older than his grandson, Christian, and Ivan was a young man in his early twenties.We had just immigrated to America. Tato and Mama had to work long hours to feed a family of eight. The older kids had to take care of the younger ones. As my oldest brother, Ivan was like a second father to me.Through a child's eyes, I saw a young man, struggling to find a place for himself in a foreign land. He would close himself in his room and pace tirelessly, repeating phrases out of an English language book until he mastered them. He knew that the first step to fit in was to speak well. It is from watching him study that I first learned what it meant to study and it contributed to my success in school.Besides speaking well, Ivan knew that to be socially accepted, he had to dress well. He also knew that Tato and Mama couldn't afford to give money to the kids for candy. So Ivan gave me the first job I ever had. I would look forward to every weekend because Ivan would pay me 50 cents or a dollar to shine his shoes. That was a lot of money for a little kid in the 60's, when you could buy a bottle of soda for 10 cents or a candy bar for a nickel. I remember going to the candy store that was at the bottom of the hill off Chapman Street. The other kids would be begging me to buy them something with the money Ivan taught me to earn.As I grew, I got to know Ivan as a man of uncompromising principles. For anything that Ivan felt was important to do, HE PUT HIS WHOLE HEART INTO IT, often naively believing that somehow this would be enough even when others could not share in his devotion.I moved away from home to attend college and later got a job out of town. When I would come home from time to time to visit my family in Willimantic, Ivan would always graciously invite me over to his house. After dinner, we'd talk about any news concerning people we knew. But there would usually come a point in our conversations, which often lasted into the early hours of the morning, when Ivan would spill his soul to me.I cannot begin to tell you in these few minutes all that he said. But there are some things that I cannot leave unsaid. To not say them at this last gathering in his honor would be to deny his purpose for living the last years of his life.Ivan was consumed by concern for his sons Miroslav and, especially, Roman. With divided custody, it tortured him that Roman did not live with him, that he could not guide and influence his character or protect him. It pained him that the human powers that be would grant him no more than a few morsels of time with his youngest son.I ask you then, is it not God's providence that, as compensation, Ivan was granted a last opportunity to live with Roman in the remaining year of his life? Miroslav and Roman both learned when young men fall into misfortune what it means to have a devoted father there to stand by them, to rescue them, to nurture them, and when he saw fit, to scold them.But now, HE IS NO MORE!Miroslav and Roman, carry the goodness of Ivan's character in your heart as a beacon to guide you. That is one way you can still respect his efforts to help you avoid the pitfalls of life. Put all your heart and devotion into those you love as your father gave you all of his heart until it became too exhausted to sustain his life.Ivan loved to sing! He loved poetry. He would help me to memorize long poems and dramatically act them out. Many of you remember my poetry recitations as a young man, at the end of which more than one person would have tears in his eyes. That was Ivan talking to you through me! I could not have done it without his direction, coaching, and encouragement.On the way here from the airport, my cousin Peter gave me a translation of a poem I would like to share with you.If you want to make somebody happy,
By wishing him all the best
Do it today In your life brother, yes, in your life
If you want to give somebody a flower?
Give it today with love In your life brother, yes, in your life
If you want to say "I love you"
To your intimate, Close or distant friend,
Say it in your life brother, yes, in your life
Do not wait for somebody's death T
o declare his goodness And fill him with your love,
In your life brother, yes, do it in your life
You will be very happy If you learn to share your happiness
With everybody you know In your life brother, yes in your life
Instead of visiting cemeteries,
Instead of loading tomb stones with flowers,
Fill your hearts with love In your life brother, yes, in your lifeIvan, I will always cherish the moments I shared with you. We will never forget you.
VICHNAYA PAMYAT!
My part of the eulogy tonight will be in EnglishDear family members present here today: Ivan's sons -- Miroslav and Roman and their wives Joanne and Kelly and their children. Ivan's mother Sofia. His sisters -- Maria and Anna and their husbands -- Joe and myself -- Michael. His brothers: Michael and his wife Tamara. Peter and Paul and their families that are with us in spirit today. His first cousin Peter, who was like a brother to him. The rest of the nieces, nephews and cousins. And all of you, that came here tonight to show respect and to honor Ivan's memory and Ivan's family.I speak about Ivan as his brother-in-law for almost 34 years. Ivan was a unique person. He had a deep love for his children and his family. He was always ready to joke around. His was a quiet sort of humor. He took life's blows and rolled with the punches. Life took some unique turns for him. He was born in what everyone has known as Yugoslavia, and is known today as Bosnia-Hertsegovina. His whole family -- Father, mother, 3 brothers and 2 sisters were able to leave Communist Yugoslavia in 1963. Because of his age, (he was the oldest surviving brother in the family) he was barely able to leave Yugoslavia one year later just short of receiving his pedagogical teacher's degree. When he came to America to join his family, he was able to help them resettle from the chicken farm in Rhode Island, where they were working off the cost of their passage to America, to Willimantic.While the older members of the family got jobs at American Thread, he went to work for Brand Rex. Once he settled in, he married and had 2 wonderful sons, Miroslav and Roman. For the rest of his life, these 2 boys were the center of his life. Ivan was a principled man that lived by his principles. When he had a belief, he lived by that belief. He was proud to be a Ukrainian-American and was active in the Ukrainian community, willing to volunteer his time at the Ukrainian National Home and whenever there were affairs held in the community.A few years ago, when he had his heart attack, his life changed dramatically. He realized he could not maintain the house he built and loved. But God sometimes moves in mysterious ways. For every grey cloud there is a silver lining.Ivan got to live with his younger son Roman. He was also close to his older son Miroslav, as they both lived not far from each other in Massachusetts. He had very much missed being close to both of them, and here it was that he was put into a situation that allowed him to see his sons and his grandchild daily. He was also blessed because both their wives were very loving, accepting and helpful to him.His passing this past Sunday took the family by surprise. But how wonderful it was, that he was surrounded by his sons in his last moments. For a loving father, I can not think of a more peaceful and satisfying way to let go of life. Ivan has now joined his father and brothers in heaven.We pray God to take his soul in his loving hands and to forgive him any shortcomings he had in life. We know that Ivan is watching over his family now from up above. We believe that he will always try to intercede in his family's behalf in any way that he can. We pray for his soul. And we pray that Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary can comfort his family with the knowledge that Ivan is now with God.Ivan, I am proud to say that you were my brother-in-law and that you were my friend. God bless your soul! May we never forget you!Vichnaya Pamyat!
Almighty Eternal God!
We, Your children, are infinitely grateful to have had among us, our now deceased Ivan, upon whom you had bestowed the precious gift of life. Just like in the Holy Scriptures, when the chosen people were looking forward to the promised land, Ivan parents, Mykola Bobrek and Sofia, nee Lukachevytch, were dreaming about moving to the free world, in order to give their family and seven children a better future. Ivan parents were going throughout tough times, working hard in the village owned collective fields of what was then Communist Yougoslavia. During this time, they lost their oldest son, Stefan, who was the first one in the family to express the desire to leave the country, and was looking for ways to emigrate to the United States. Due to their efforts, they finally got the authorization to leave Yougoslavia, but not all ofthem. Ivan could not leave the country because he had received a stipend to help him with his studies. The government wanted him to reimburse the amount they came up with, which was a lot and made it impossible for him to comply. For a whole year, Ivan went thru a hard time, alone, wandering around and missing his family. In the meantime, his parents, after arriving in the United States, settled in the state of Rhodes Island, working at a chicken farm, saving every penny in order to be able to pay back Ivan's stipend. Ivan was also facing another problem: he was expected to enlist in Tito's Yougoslavian Army but he got away with it overcoming a lot of difficulties. Finally, Ivan flew to Kennedy Airport in New York in December 1962 and was reunited with his family, feeling like he was born again. Nothing could stop Ivan on his way to assimilate himself to the new way of life on the new continent. Ivan's life in a new country left a deep imprint, not only in the hearts of his large family, but in the whole Ukrainian community, in this city of Willimantic. Thanks to Ivan and his family, many new immigrants could come to this country, and among them, my own family who was still young at that time. Ivan was our sponsor, he sent in the necessary documents and helped us to get a loan to cover the cost of our flight to the United States. Upon our arrival, we stayed over a year with Ivan's father, Mykola, until we found a permanent job. Almighty Eternal God! Take the soul of our dear Ivan in a "bright place where there will be no pain, sadness, suffering, but only eternal life and happiness". I hope your soul, Ivan, will be reunited with your deceased father, Mykola, your deceased brothers Stefan and Dmytro, your grandfather and grandmother, and all those who were part of your life, and who now rest in peace. And for now, we will, glorifying God, follow our designated short path in this life, trying to reach our main goal, our encounter in eternity with our Creator.YOUR MEMORY WILL LIVE FOREVER!
