Maria Polanskyj

Maria Polanskyj (ne Osinska) Maria was born on December 13, 1938 in Warsaw (Poland) the youngest of three daughters to Ukrainian Parents, Victor Osinski and Natalia Osinska (Stefaniw). During World War II, she lived under Nazi occupation and after the end of the war, she lived in a series of refugee camps. In 1949, she immigrated to the United States with her mother and sister, Anna. She received her primary education at the St. Basil Orphanage in Fox Chase, PA and St. John the Baptist Elementary School in Newark, NJ and her secondary education at the Arts High School in Newark, NJ. She then studied at Brooklyn College, in Brooklyn, NY. In 1964, she married Bohdan S. Polanskyj and returned permanently to New Jersey where they raised three children together: Odarka, Bohdan A. and Peter. She later had a long career with the Federal Government from which she eventually retired. In her retirement, she took much joy from her volunteer activities, travels with friends and time spent with her eight grandchildren whom she adored. Maria was very active in the Ukrainian community, on a national and local level. She was a longtime member of the Plast Chornomorsky Chvyly Ukrainian scouting organization, which provided her with friendship and camaraderie that she enjoyed from her young adulthood through her final illness. She was a charter member of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America Branch 86 and she held a variety of leadership roles at the UNWLA, including service on the UNWLA National Board from 2002. She was awarded the highest UNWLA citation in 2011, that of an UNWLA Honorary Member (following in her own mother's footsteps). She was very proud of her work as Chair of the UNWLA Scholarship Program for which she was both an active leader and a donor for decades. Maria is survived by her husband of 51 years, Bohdan S. Polanskyj and their three children, Odarka Polanskyj Stockert, with her husband Thomas Stockert, and daughters Sophia and Ariadna Stockert, Bohdan A. Polanskyj, with his wife Mimi Polanskyj and children Alexander and Izabelle Polanskyj, and Peter Polanskyj, with his wife Stacey Polanskyj, and children Cassandra, Madeline, Damian and Lindsay Polanskyj, all from New Jersey. She is also survived by her sister, Anna Krawczuk, with husband Bernard Krawczuk and their son Myron Krawczuk of New Jersey and the children of her sister Taissa Decyk Meleshko, Viktor Decyk, with his wife Betsy Decyk, and Julian Decyk of California, Ulana Decyk Venditelli, with her husband Robert Ventidelli, of Rhode Island, and Roman Decyk of Florida. She is predeceased by her sister Taissa Decyk Meleshko and her niece Lydia Decyk. Viewings will be held on Friday, December 11th, 2015 from 2pm to 4pm and from 7pm to 9pm at Union Funeral Home, 1600 Stuyvesant Avenue, Union, NJ. The funeral service will be held at 930am on Saturday, December 12th, 2015 at Saint John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church, 733 Stanford Avenue in Newark, NJ, followed by a burial at Saint Andrew Ukrainian Cemetery, 240 Main Street, South Bound Brook, NJ. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the UNWLA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM, PO BOX 24, Matawan, NJ 07747-0024 with a notation "In Memory of Maria Polanskyj".