Nicholas Mykola Koziupa

Nicholas Mykola Koziupa was born June 8, 1924 in Ozerna, Tenopil region, Ukraine, to Maria (nee Hodowska) and Mykhailo Koziupa. At the age of 18, he was taken by the Germans to do forced labore in Germany. He was a member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and as such was caught by the Gestapo and sentenced as a political prisoner to the Dachau Concentration Camp. After his release from concentration camp, he was forced to work for a German farmer. During this time, he met Iwanna Witiuk. They married on June 10, 1945. Their first son Ihor (Joseph), was born in Germany in 1946. He was a policeman in the Displaced Persons Camp in Bavaria and worked hard to help the Ukrainian families. He was an original member of the Ukrainian Youth Association (CYM) rebirth in Germany after the war. They immigrated to the United States and landed in New York City in February of 1950. Mykola worked as a tailor in the city, then later moved to Newark, NJ where he worked on construction. Their second son, Michael, was born in 1951. He then worked for the Weiss & Son scissor factory as a polisher finisher for many years. He moved to Irvington, NJ in 1964. He then worked for the Wakefern Corporation, the warehouse facility for Shop Rite stores in Elizabeth, NJ, and was a proud member of the Teamsters Union for over 20 years, after which he retired. He was a multi-talented man, was called a "renaissance man" by some for his gifted abilities to do almost anything once he worked with his hands. He knew construction and was able to lay brick, to do siding, to weld, electric, plumbing, carpentry and work on auto engines. He loved to plant and farm. He sewed. To this day Ukrainian flags that he sewed are still flying in various parts of the US and in Ukraine. He raised bees for honey. He painted beautiful landscape oil paintings. He was proud to have graduated with a "Tool and Die" degree. Mykola was a dedicated family man that was active in the Ukrainian community in and around the Newark area. He was a member of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, the Organization for Defense of Four Freedoms for Ukraine, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. He was a Ukrainian Catholic man and was on the Parish Council of St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Newark and actively supported the St. John Ukrainian Catholic Grammar School in Newark, NJ. He was actively involved in the executive of the Ukrainian Community Center in Irvington, NJ. He was proclaimed Ukrainian of the Year in 1994 by the Township of Irvington. Mykola is survived by his son Michael and wife Anna. His grandchildren, Daniel and his wife Natalie, Tatyana and her husband Sean Griffin, Nicholas and his wife Jess, William (Vasyl), Catherine and her husband Scott Obrig, and Alexander. And his great grandchildren, Logan Koziupa, and Jolene and Joseph Obrig. And an large extended family in the United States, Ukraine and beyond.