Nadiya Mirchuk

Nadiya Mirchuk, 98, passed away on Thursday, December 28, 2023.

She was born in Romny, Ukraine, daughter of Andriy and Anna Matjucha, sister of Ippolit. The family emigrated first to Germany and then to the United States in 1950 where they settled in Newark, New Jersey. It was there that she met and married Mykola in 1953, moving to Livingston in 1956. They were happily married for 65 years until his death in 2018.

Her passions were gardening, sewing, maintaining her Ukrainian heritage and traditions, and most importantly to her, raising her family.

Her gardens were filled with continually flowering and fragrant plants, fruits, and vegetables, notably the tastiest tomatoes. Her family had snacks off the vine in the summer, and preserves made from cherries, apples, raspberries in the winter. Except for poison ivy, she never met a plant she did not want to nurture.

Anything with a needle (non-medical, of course) interested her. She embroidered, knitted, and made many of her own clothes, often with traditional Ukrainian patterns. She later became a professional seamstress doing alterations and repairs. She then became the resident expert at Danneman Fabrics at Livingston Mall working there until the store closed in the early 2000s.

She also was deeply involved with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, serving as the President of the United Ukrainian Orthodox Sisterhoods from the mid-1990s until 2009. In this role, she visited parish sisterhoods, discussing the organizations activities, impact of contributions, and emphasizing the need to memorialize the Ukrainian culture and Ukrainian Orthodox religion.

But nothing made her happier or gave her more satisfaction than her family – her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchild. She loved spending time with them and seeing how well they got along. Saying, “All this is my family”, she thought them her best contribution in life.

She is survived by her children, Nadiya Clark, Andriy and his wife Laurie, and Orest and his wife Ingrid; six grandchildren, Richard Clark, Alissa and her husband Joe, Nick, Alex, Laura Molloy and her husband James, Natalie; one great-grandchild Nicola.

Visitation will be on Monday January 1, 2024 from 6:00 p.m. through 8:00 p.m. at Union Funeral Home - Lytwyn & Grillo - 1600 Stuyvesant Avenue, Union, NJ.  Parastas to be held at 7:15 p.m.

Funeral Service on Tuesday, January 2, 2024 at St. Andrew Memorial Church, 280 Main Street, South Bound Brook, NJ at 10:00 a.m.   Burial to follow the service in St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery.