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Volodymyr Piasecky
Volodymyr Piaseckyj was born in 1938 in the
city of Lviv, Ukraine. The city today has a population of about 800,000
people. Lviv, founded in 1256, was the center of Western Ukraine
– there existed various cultural, communal, political institutions and
a university. Recently, Lviv was named a "historical city" by UNESCO.
Mr. Piaseckyj lived in Lviv for the
first five years of his life. In time, his family was forced to relocate
because the Russians demanded that his father be a spy for their benefit.
They threatened the father with death and the family with deportation to
Siberia. During the Second World War, when the Soviet armies were
advancing on Lviv for a secon d time, Volodymyr Piaseckyj found himself
in Vienna, during Allied bombing raids.
After the war, the Piaseckyj family emigrated
to Canada, where, in the city of Windsor, the father worked as an engineer.
There, Volodymyr Piaseckyj became a member of a youth group, which was
organized by his father. Every Saturday, Volodymyr Piaseckyj would
go to Ukrainian school in Detroit, riding a bus under the Detroit River,
which forms part of the border between America and Canada. In Detroit,
while riding the street cars, Mr. Piaseckyj was bothered at the fact that
white people sat in the front and black people always sat separately at
the rear.
In 1953, Volodymyr Piaseckyj moved to Toronto.
There he finished high school and earned a diploma in Telecommunications
Engineering from the University of Toronto. In 1964, he began
working as an engineer in Ottawa where he earned his Masters in engineering
as well. He married Lubomyra Habrovych and a son, Levko, was born.
In 1968, Mr. Piaseckyj returned to work in Toronto where his daughter Olenka
was born, and in 1973, after securing a job at the Canadian Ministry of
Defence, he, along with his family moved to Ottawa for good.
In 1977, Volodymyr Piaseckyj lived through
a family tragedy -- the death of his wife Lubomyra. In 1988, he would marry
Olha Adamyk. Mr. Volodymyr Piaseckyj has had a very active life in Plast
(Ukrainian Scouts).
From 1949-52 he was a scout in Windsor and
in 1953 he became a member of the 3rd Troop, named in honour of Simon Petlura,
and a member of the patrol "Marine Hawks" in Toronto. At that time
many Ukrainians lived close to each other in the city, and that is why
the members of the patrol could come together every day next to the Community
Center and to play sports; formal patrol meetings were called once a week.
Becoming an "Older Scout" and a member of
the troop "Forest Devils", Mr. Piaseckyj became the leader of a patrol
of Cubs and the commander of the Cub troop "Carpathian Animals" -- for
six years in Toronto, and then 3 years in Ottawa he worked with Cubs .
With his return to Toronto (1968-72), he was the commander of the 15th
Troop, named in honour of Ivan Chmola.
Returning to Ottawa in 1973, Volodymyr Piaseckyj continued his
duties as a Cub leader (1973-81). With his participation and initiative,
the 101st Troop, named in honour of Volodymyr Ivasiuk, was created and
Mr Piaseckyj became its first commander (1981-89).
Throughout his time in Plast, Mr. Piaseckyj
has worked 17 years with Cubs, 12 years with Scouts, was the treasurer,
for two years, and for one year, the commander of all the Ukrainian Scouts
in Ottawa.
On of the most unforgettable scouting memories
of Mr. Piaseckyj, is the wandering aquatic camp of 1954 on canoes through
Algonquin Provincial Park, commanded by "Senior Scout" Bohdan Yaciv.
Several adventures and hardships needed to be overcome on this trip, for
example, strong winds, large waves and a portage of five kilometers from
Lake Lavier to Lake Opeongo. At this camp, Mr. Piaseckyj learned
how to paddle a canoe and how to overcome any problem in the middle of
the wild. This trip gave him an urge to actively work in Plast.
There is one item which has great personal
value for Volodymyr Piaseckyj — it is a wedding card/book, given to him
by the members of the 101st Troop in honour of his marriage in 1988.
The book contains the signatures of all members of the Ottawa scouts and
this book reminds Mr. Piaseckyj not only of his long years of dedicated service
to Plast, but also of his service in the creation of the 101st Troop —
the first co-ed troop in the history of Plast.
Interviewed by Roman Dzioba
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