National President, UNF of Canada

On January 1st, 1932, Roy Michael Kostuk was born to Michael Kostuk and Anna Kostuk, nee Dowhan. Roy was the first baby.

On Saturday, September 8, 2001, the elections of the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada were held. Roy Michael Kostuk became the first Canadian born National President.

Roy grew up in Toronto’s Ukrainian community. His father, Michael, was a cabinet maker, and a former “Sichovej Strilec” who came to Canada from Ukraine in 1927 seeking a better life, and Roy’s mother, Anna, came to Canada in 1928. She was a seamstress who was so good that she was one of the two seamstresses allowed to sew clothes at Eclipse Whitewear for the Dionne Quintuplets. For many of the ladies in the Ukrainian community, Anna was their couture dressmaker.

He went to Ogden, Clinton and Givens Public Schools and attended Ukrainian School at the Ukrainian National Federation. At the time he attended Ukrainian School at UNF the hall changed locations from 324 Queen Street West, 300 Bathurst (which UNF took over from the Communists during the War), College and Shaw Street, and then to the then brand new UNF Hall at 297 College Street in Toronto.

After graduating from Parkdale Collegiate in Toronto, Roy went on to St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto. He was one of the founding members of the Ukrainian Canadian University Students Club (SUSK) and was Treasurer for a time. It was at the Ukrainian Students Club that he met Irene Snihura, a pharmacy student, when he was an active executive member of the Club. In 1956 Roy received his BA and Irene her B.Sc. in pharmacy.

Irene and Roy were married on September 8, 1956. Irene was working as a pharmacist and Roy went off to Law School at Osgoode Hall. To supplement their family income, he drove a beer truck on Saturdays.

One of my favourite stories about Roy’s summertime work was how he spent one summer out west painting. One always thinks of painting combined with the word artist, but after a pause in the story he would say, “Me and my friend Peter Pidkowich (the husband of Mary Pidkowich, our former National President) spent the summer painting outhouses out west.”

In June 1960 Roy was called to the Bar and got a job with a firm of lawyers in the east end of Toronto. In August of that year their daughter Mary Anne was born. In March 1963 their son Roy Jr. was born. Roy Jr. and his wife, Vera, have two children, Alexa and Matthew who attend school at Cardinal Slipyj School. Mary Anne and Roy Jr. were members of the Kalyna Dance

Ensemble and the UNYF of Canada, Irene Kostuk is a member of UWO of Canada, Toronto Branch.

In 1961 he opened his own practice above Cholkan Real Estate at Bloor and Lippincott When the office became too small, in the late Sixties, he moved his practice to his own premises at Bloor and Kennedy, the center of the Ukrainian community, and stayed there until he retired in 1998. In 1975 he was awarded his LL.B. degree and was appointed a Queen’s Counsel (Q.C.

Roy’s accomplishments are many and varied. He produced a number of records - Trio Kalyna, Kalyna Girls’ Choir, Burya I, 2 and 3, and the Happy Frog Croakers. He ran a radio program from a Station in Brampton with his friend Zenon Levitsky for two years on Sunday nights. A featured listener to this program was Roy and Irene’s cat Zocia Zocia was known to many of his clients as the office cat Since she resided at his law office for part of her life. For two years, 1967 and 1968, Roy was the President of the Toronto UNF Branch. He has been on the executive of that Branch and acted as their legal counsel from time to time.. When Toronto International Caravan was in its full swing, he took a very active part in the running of the popular and successful Kyiv Pavillion. For the past three years he was an executive member and legal counsel of the National Executive of the UNF of Canada. For a time, Roy and Irene sang in St. Demetrius Ukrainian Catholic Church Choir.

In their younger days, Mr. and Mrs. Kostuk traveled to many different parts of the world. Roy’s enjoyment and interests are now his wife, his children, his grand children and his good friends, and close to the top of the list is the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada, Mr. Roy Michael Kostuk is a man with a great many facets to his personality. He likes to laugh; he has a great sense of family, church and responsibility and is an honourable, and honest man. He has a great love for animals. When he has spare time, he likes to read, listen to music, walk in the woods, watch the birds, swim, do some gardening and golf with his friends in Hawkestone. There is a file in his brain is full of the most wonderful storage of trivial and not so trivial information.

Roy’s great love for his country Canada, his precious Ukrainian heritage and his Christian principals and morality will serve him well as the National President of the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada.