My beloved husband, Michael Jaworskyj, left our world peacefully on March 30. He would have been 95 years old on April 10. Following Michael’s wishes, there was no memorial service. He is survived by his wife, Diana Von der Muhll Jaworskyj, and by many members of his Ukrainian family.
Michael was born in Lviv, Ukraine, in 1921. As a young man during WWII, he was imprisoned by the Germans for more than a year. At that time, the Germans also abducted millions of people from Eastern Europe to do forced labor in Germany. He was taken to Munich with other Ukrainian people. Despite these difficult experiences, he had no bitterness.
After the war, he married a woman from Lviv, whom he met in Germany, and they came to the United States as displaced persons. Michael did many different jobs, worked as an upholsterer and had in mind to start his own business. But then, in 1952, he began studying at the Johns Hopkins University, where he earned a B.A. and went on to earn a Ph.D. in political science in 1960. He started teaching at Hunter College in New York City in 1960, where he became a professor and taught for 31 years.
He went twice to see his mother in Ukraine, when she was very ill, before the breakup of the Soviet Union. From 1992, he was able to return freely to Ukraine to visit his family.
Michael moved to Santa Fe, N.M., in 1991, where he lived for four years, eventually settling in beautiful Pagosa Springs because he loved hiking, the mountains and the hot springs. He wrote four books, some about his life, which were published and well-received in Ukraine.
The United States was the country where he studied and pursued a career. He often expressed his gratitude for having been able to come and live in this country.
Written by his loving wife, Diana Von der Muhll Jaworskyj, and his best friend.
