Woven Branches

Myroslav Kostaszczuk, a.k.a. Marshall Kostash, son of Fedor Kostaszczuk and Anna Zwarych, was born on 22 June 1909 at the family homestead near Vegreville, Alberta.²

Growing up on the farm with six brothers lead to many misadventures. Most were without any serious consequences, but others were not. When Marshall was a young lad of about 7 he badly hurt the ring finger on his right hand, severing the tendons. The finger eventually became useless and curled. It was finally amputated by a Ukrainian doctor when Marshall was 18. There are two stories that account for this injury, and no way now to tell which is correct. In one story Marshall was climbing up the grain silo when he fell and cut his finger badly on a nail. In the other story Marshall and his brothers were out in a field having fun aggravating a bull. When it finally had enough and chased after them they all ran for the fence and leaped over the wire. All, that is, except for Marshall's finger!

Education was very important to Fred Kostash, so he made sure that his sons were able to attend school, even if this meant that they had to live far away from the farm. Fred built a small shack (or bursa) in Vegreville for his sons to live in.

When Marshall was attending school he lived in the bursa with Bill Porayko, and his brothers John, Elias and William.³

Marshall graduated in May 1935 from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, with a BSc. in Chemistry and Metallurgy. Shortly after graduation, in June 1935, Marshall moved east to Sudbury, Ontario, and got a job with INCO working in the Copper Cliff smelter. His wage when he started was 42 cents per hour.

At that time many of the men working at INCO were boarded in the company residences. When Marshall first arrived there were no spots available in the residences, so his supervisor, Alfred Wulff, offered his own home to "this fine young Swede", as a temporary shelter. This was how Marshall met Mae Wulff, his future wife.⁴ He married Mae Wulff, daughter of Thomas Alfred Wulff and Annie Retta Butler, on 31 May 1937 at St. John the Divine, Copper Cliff, Ontario.

In 1938 Marshall was promoted to safety engineer at INCO. He held this position until 1943.⁴

In 1967 Marshall was promoted to superintendent of the separation and sintering department at INCO's Copper Cliff smelter. He held this position until his retirement.⁴

Marshall retired from INCO in October 1971 after 36 years of service.⁴

Marshall and Mae spent the next several years of retirement travelling and visiting their children's families in Ottawa and Barry's Bay. They both enjoyed many years of good health and had an active retirement.³

Marshall died on 8 January 2000 at Sudbury, Ontario, at age 90.⁵ His funeral was held on 11 January 2000 at Sudbury, Ontario.^2,5