Iwan Kostaszczuk

b. circa 1903, d. 3 May 1943
Iwan Kostaszczuk, a.k.a. John Kostash, son of Fedor Kostaszczuk and Anna Zwarych, was born circa 1903 at Vegreville, Alberta.1

John, like his older brothers, likely started his education at Kolomea school around seven or eight years old. He would have then moved on to higher grades in Vegreville, likely staying at the two-room shack, or bursa, built by his father.2

When John was in high school he was playing a game with his brothers where they would try to drive a surveyor's stake into the ground as far as they could. When pulling the stake out of the ground, John struck himself above the eye. It remained swollen for quite some time and John lost the sight in that eye.3

John attended the University of Alberta, Edmonton and graduated in 1933 with a M.S. in Mining Metallurgy.4 John worked at Noranda Gold Mines at Noranda, Quebec for several years and then accepted a position as Assay Expert with the government in Ottawa.4

Iwan married Victoria Hewko circa 1940.

John died on 3 May 1943 at Ottawa, Ontario.1,5

Family: Iwan Kostaszczuk and Victoria Hewko

Citations

  1. John F. Kostash headstone photograph, ca. 1990, privately held by John Kostash, Hamilton, Ontario,.
  2. Ukrainian Pioneers' Association of Alberta, Ukrainians In Alberta (Edmonton: Ukrainian News Publishers Ltd., 1975).
  3. Marshall Kostash, (Copper Cliff, Ontario), interview by Robert Kostash (son of Marshall), 20 July 1989; handwritten notes privately held by John Kostash, Hamilton, Ontario, 2011.
  4. Six Sons Holders of Degrees, The Ukrainian Weekly, (Jersey City, New Jersey), 25 July 1942, p. 4; digital image, The Ukrainian Weekly (http://ukrweekly.com/ : accessed 7 February 2015).
  5. John Frederick Kostash burial (4 May 1943), Beechwood Cemetery (Ottawa, Ontario), entry 29847; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca/ : accessed 22 February 2011); citing Beechwood Cemetery Internments, 1873–1990.