Jean Holowaty

It is with much sadness that we announce the passing of Ivanna (Jean) Holowaty on 11/9/18. She was born to the Hryhorciw family in a small Hutzl town of Kociw in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine on 3/4/24. Ivanna was the only daughter of Stephan Hryhorciw, a surveyor and entrepreneur and his wife, Maria Dumin, a teacher. While an only child, she was born to a large and loving family of uncles, aunts and cousins. Her early years were innocent, peaceful and nurturing but the political climate was threatening. Unrest soon displaced the family to Poland where they experienced a loss of home and all worldly possessions. They moved to Poznan where she would meet her future husband, Michael O. Holowaty. Schooling was now in Polish. More war efforts forced Ivanna to seek education in Berlin where German was the primary language in school, but it was necessary to learn the secondary French language as well. She did and excelled. But WWII intruded. Ivanna was now a young adult and an Ukrainian patriot and so an enemy of the Nazi State. As a result, she was arrested and served nearly 2 years in Ravenzbré¼k, a multinational concentration camp for women. Michael Holowaty found her soon after her release and they married. Education was highly valued and little by little they both achieved degrees. Two children were born while they were in displaced persons camps in Germany. A kind Baptist church community in Northern Michigan sponsored the family to come to the United States. The rest as they say is history. Ivanna, earned credentials as an ASCP, a laboratory technologist and ultimately became head of a hospital school in Gary, Indiana. She had two more children. Ivanna was devoted to her Ukrainian heritage, her Ukrainian Catholic Church and her family, and to the love of her adopted country of America. In her later years Jean was devoted to the causes of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America and served as president of the organization for 5 years each in Munster IN and Venice, FL. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to this organization. Please send checks made out to UNWLA Branch 56. In the memo section: Jean Holowaty. Address to: Bohdanna Puzyk, 664 Clear Creek Dr. Osprey, FL 34229 She was predeceased by her husband of 57 yrs, Michael O. Holowaty and is survived by her children: Christine Schlesinger, Marta Garcia, Alexandra Hildebrand and George Holowaty, 8 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren. During her life she experienced the innovations of electricity, automobiles, cinema, telephones, television, airplanes and the internet. She also knew the Great Depression and WWII in the European theater. She was positive, resilient and a beautiful person. Those who knew her describe her as ""a force of nature"", elegant, gracious, devout, generous but above all grateful for the bounty of her life. She would often be heard saying: ""what a life, what a life, what a wonderful life""! A Celebration of Life will be held later in November.