Maria Turchyn Hulewicz

Our mother, Maria Turchyn Hulewicz, age 97, departed this life on August 22, 2025. She was born in the tiny village of Komyshi, Sumy Oblast, Ukraine on July 9, 1928 to Mykhailo and Fatyna Turchyn during a tumultuous time in Eastern European history. When she was only a year old, her father was arrested on false charges and sent to Siberia. Family land and all belongings were confiscated through Stalin’s collectivization policies. As snow fell and darkness descended, Maria, her mother and siblings were exiled from the village and hauled to a gorge in the countryside where they were told to die for the “crime” of being farmers and loving their land. They lived in a zemlianka, a cave carved out of the earth, for 8 years, surviving the Holodomor (Ukrainian genocide via starvation) and constant harassment by authorities. Her father was executed by Stalin in 1937 despite his innocence. During WWII, she began a long journey to escape this persecution in a horse-drawn wagon with few provisions. Slowly, they traversed west through Ukraine and Poland and landed in Germany only to be enslaved by the Nazi regime. Maria, was eternally grateful to the American soldiers who freed her, to the American government that accepted her into this country and for the privilege of being an American citizen. She loved Goshen and she and her husband labored hard at factory jobs to achieve the American dream. She detailed her life’s story in her book, “Fatyna’s Daughter: My Journey from Persecution to Freedom”. Our mother loved her family, flowers, gardening, and interacting with just about anyone. Her home was open to anyone and she often hosted impromptu meals to strangers visiting her church on any given Sunday. She loved to sing all night with friends at parties and, more often, in the church she helped found: Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Goshen

She was preceded in death by her husband of almost 60 years, Stanley John (Ivan) Hulewicz whom she met and married in post-war Germany, as well as her beloved mother, Fatyna, her stepfather, Stepan Prokopenko, who was an important part of her life, son-in-law James Stickel and siblings: Olena and Yakiv.

Surviving are her children: Olga Stickel, Valentina (George) Bachnivsky and John (Debra) Hulewicz, as well as her grandsons James Stickel, Michael Stickel, Nicholas Stickel, Adrian Bachnivsky, Iuri Bachnivsky, Jacob Hulewicz. Additional survivors include her great-grandchildren: Eli, Alexandra, Julian, Gemma, Charlotte, David and Elliot. In Ukraine, extended family survives.

Visitation will be Tuesday, August 26, 2025 at Yoder-Culp Funeral Home in Goshen from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm with a Panakhyda service at 6:45pm. A funeral service is planned for Maria at 10:00 am on Wednesday, August 27, 2025 at Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Goshen, Indiana followed by burial in Oakridge Cemetery.

Memorial contributions  can be offered to Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church, 61314 CR 21, Goshen, IN where she was active for over 65 years. May her memory be eternal.