GEDO LESCHYSHYN

                                                John Leschyshyn:   July 7, 1888 - June, 1960

 John’s parents:  Basil or Wasyl Leschyshyn and Mary Pueda (pronounced Pooyda)

   Mom thought that Gedo’s dark complexion may have come from a gypsy grandmother.

John’s birthplace:  Poberizhi Village near Stanislaw (Ivan Frankiw), Ukraine

                              This house is on the site where Gedo lived before he came to Canada.  

                                                           John’s Education: grade 8

                                               Languages:  Ukrainian, Polish, German, English

                  This is Gedo’s niece, Maria, and her 10 year old granddaughter, Bohdanka.

John's Trade:  in Ukraine: 

-          Weaver

-          Served in Austrian-Hungarian army

  

            In Canada, John was mainly a farmer, but he was also the unofficial vet in the district.  He had a special needle for sewing up ruptures in little pigs and for when he castrated steers and pigs.  He used creveline? to wash knives and cuts.

            To make money during the winter, John paid an inspector for a permit to cut long poles of tamarack.  He would go to the reserve one day and, two days later, after he trimmed the poles, he took them to Shoal Lake to sell to storekeepers and anyone else who needed wood for stoves and heaters.  He got $10.00 a sleigh-load -- about a cord of wood: 8 feet long piled 4 feet high. 

            John was always a trustee on the School Board.

            John supported the Conservatives and then, in 1935, the CCF.

            John was friends with councilors, the reeve, provincial politicians, and members of parliament so, because nobody else knew English or could keep the books, he was a Secretary at civil elections at the office of the election committee and at provincial and Dominion elections.   (He was paid $25.00 for the federal elections.)

 

John’s gravesite:  Petlura, Manitoba

                                    Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Ascension

UZVAR  (Dried Fruit Compote)

In From Borschch to Blinis, Catherine Atkinson (Page 84) says  “Uzvar is served on Christmas Eve and also at feasts at which the dead are honored.”

A mixture of dried fruits (apples, apricots, pears, prunes, raisins) is cooked with some water to soften the fruits.  Then honey and lemon are added.

My cousin Marilyn asked,  Do you remember this dish from Christmas Eve dinner? It ended our feast, so refreshing, served cold!