George A. Perfecky

George A. Perfecky passed away peacefully on December 28, 2019, succumbing to cancer.

The son of Bohdan and Natalia (Czolij) Perfecky, George was born on May 27, 1940, in the Polish crown city of Piotrkow Trybunalski ,where his father worked as an attorney.  When Nazi forces invaded Ukraine, the young family returned home to Lviv, the family's native city for generations.  As the ravages of war continued, and the Russian armies advanced, they fled to the west, finding refuge in a Displaced Persons camp in Germany. In 1948 the Perfeckys emigrated to the USA and settled in Philadelphia.

George attended Central High School, was active in Plast, studied at the Ukrainian Music Institute, and played soccer on the varsity team.  Soccer and music became his life-long passions.

In 1963 George graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Russian and German, and entered Columbia University to continue his graduate work under Yurij Shevelov.  He received his M.A. in 1966 and in 1970 his Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Slavic Languages and Philology from Columbia University.

In 1964 he married Christine Konaszewycz in New York.  A year later the couple moved to Philadelphia, where they were blessed with two daughters: Tanya Maria and Marta Christina. George began teaching in the Department of Foreign Languages at La Salle University in 1965.  It was a very gratifying and successful career which lasted 50
years.  He taught and developed courses in Russian, German, Ukrainian, Polish and, for the last decade, Spanish, after getting yet another Master's Degree in Bilingual Studies (Spanish).  In 1989 he was named full professor.

The core of Dr. Perfecky's academic and research work centered around Old Church Slavonic Chronicles.  His most important scholarly contributions were his book The Galician-Volynian Chronicle: An Annotated Translation which was published in Harvard's Series in Ukrainian Studies and related works about the said chronicle as a source of Ukrainian language and historiography.  He also translated the 17th century Hustyn Chronicle, which represented the first attempt of early chroniclers to write a systematic history of Ukraine, and the Bykhovets Chronicle.  Many of his articles centered on Kievan Rus' and underscored the fact that it was an integral part of Ukraine's history.

George authored Intermediate Ukrainian II: A Manual for Individualized Instruction (with A. Humesky and K. Dowbenko), Ohio State University, as well as vocabulary supplements to all four volumes of the Ukrainian language series.  He wrote widely-published articles on the status of the Ukrainian language in the Ukrainian SSR and on the linguistic Russification of Ukrainian and reviewed several series of Ukrainian dictionaries.  He was a member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society of America, The Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the US and various American Associations. 

A devoted husband, father and grandfather, George is survived by: Christine (Konaszewycz), his beloved wife of 55 years; loving daughters Tanya Harvey and Marta (David) Neuenhaus and the pride and joy of his life- grand daughter Sophia Neuenhaus.  Left in grief are his aunt Maria Perfecky and cousins Andrej and Ulana;
and the Dycio, Knysh, Bazarko, Melnyk, and Hoshovsky families, as well as friends, colleagues and former students.

His family will greet friends on Saturday, JANUARY 11, 2020 at 10 AM at Annunciation BVM Ukrainian Catholic Church.  Requiem Liturgy will be celebrated at 11 AM.  Committal/interment will be private at a later date. 

In lieu of flowers, donations in George's memory may be made to: Annunciation BVM UC Church; Ukrainian Educational & Cultural Center; or United Ukrainian American Relief Committee.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of George A. Perfecky, please visit our floral store.