Roman Shwed

In Loving Memory of Roman J. Shwed

A life shaped by courage, faith, service, and enduring love for Ukraine

Roman J. Shwed, a man whose life carried the weight of history and the warmth of an open heart was born in 1940 in Lviv, Ukraine, during the darkness of World War II.  Roman’s earliest years were marked by upheaval, danger, and flight.  With his parents, Roman M. Shwed and Maria Shwed, née Zadorozna, he left his homeland as his family escaped the brutality of both Soviet and Nazi oppression. That journey, begun in fear and uncertainty, became the foundation of a life defined by resilience, gratitude, and an unwavering devotion to freedom.

Roman grew up in Philadelphia, PA, USA where he remained deeply rooted in the Ukrainian Catholic and Ukrainian American communities.  He graduated from Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Greek Catholic parochial school in 1954 and from Roman Catholic High School in 1958.  He later graduated from Drexel University in 1972, served in the Naval Air Reserve, and built a professional life as an architect.  In each chapter, he carried with him the discipline of service, the imagination of a builder, and the memory of a homeland that had never left his heart.

To the Ukrainian community in Philadelphia, Roman was far more than a participant; he was a presence, an organizer, a storyteller, and a friend.  Through Plast, the Ukrainian American Student Organization, Ukrainian Theater on Fridays, and countless community efforts, he gave his energy and talent to preserving Ukrainian culture, language, identity, and fellowship.  He understood that a community survives not only through institutions, but through people willing to show up, lead, encourage, and keep traditions alive for the next generation.

In 1995, during Ukraine’s independence period, Roman returned to the land of his birth.  There he married, lived, and worked in Kyiv for many years.  His return was not simply geographic; it was a homecoming of spirit.  In Ukraine, he brought the perspective of a Ukrainian American who had lived through exile and memory, and he shared it with humor, intelligence, and generosity.  His work with Ukrainian radio, especially as the author of the popular and vivid program U pana Romana nyni, reflected his gift for voice, personality, and connection.

Roman also helped build bridges of service and friendship in Ukraine.  As an initiator and charter leader in the creation of Kyiv’s English-speaking International Rotary community, he worked to connect people across nations and backgrounds in the spirit of civic responsibility and goodwill.  His life showed that service was not confined to one country, one city, or one chapter of life.  Wherever Roman stood, he looked for ways to strengthen the bonds between people.

Among Roman’s lasting gifts is his book Romtsyo, in which he preserved the story of his turbulent childhood during the war.  By telling that story, he honored not only his own family’s experience, but the e xperience of countless displaced Ukrainian families whose lives were shaped by war, exile, survival, and hope. His memories became testimony, and his testimony became an inheritance for those who follow.

When Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine began in February 2022, the pain of another assault on Ukraine weighed heavily on him.  As his health declined, Roman returned to the United States, where he lived and received care in Philadelphia.  Yet even then, Ukraine remained close to him: in memory, in prayer, in love, and in the enduring conviction that the Ukrainian spirit cannot be destroyed.

Roman J. Shwed leaves behind the example of a life lived between worlds, yet devoted to bringing them together.  He was a son of Lviv and a son of Philadelphia; a refugee child who became a builder; a man of culture, service, humor, and conviction; a keeper of memory and a believer in Ukraine’s future.  Those who knew him will remember his vivid personality, his generous spirit, and his deep love for his people.

He is survived by his wife, Zoya; his son Roman Zenon Shwed and his wife Kenia; his grandson Roman Rafael Shwed and his sister Christine Shwed (his kid sister).  He is also survived by his cousins in the Philadelphia area: Orest J. Schwed and his wife Marusya and Marta Kudenko and her husband Walter and their son Eric as well as cousins in Lviv, Ukraine: Inga Yursa along with her husband, children and grandchildren; Irena Harax; and Roman Kuzyk along with his wife, children and grandchildren as well as his ex-wife, Dzvinka Stefanyshyn.

May his memory be eternal. Vichnaya pamiat.

Roman's family will greet friends at 9 AM on Tuesday at Annunciation BVM Ukrainian Catholic Church, Melrose Park, PA.  Requiem Liturgy will be celebrated at 10 AM.  Committal prayers will be sung at St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Roman's memory may be made to the Ukrainian Federation of America or Kyiv Multinational Rotary Club: "Our friends in the Danish NGO Cars for Ukraine have agreed that we can use their Stripe account. https://buy.stripe.com/eVq8wPee4bNFfdWab0dZ600  Please write "Roman" in your address when making the payment." 

Born in Lviv in 1940, Roman’s early years were marked by the hardships of World War II. He and his family navigated the challenges of displaced persons camps before embarking on a journey to the United States, eventually settling in Philadelphia. Despite these early adversities, Roman pursued his passion for architecture, graduating from Drexel University in 1974. His career flourished in Philadelphia and Florida, but his deep connection to his homeland remained. In 1994, Roman returned to Ukraine, embracing it as his true home.

As one of the founding members of the Kyiv Multinational Rotary Club, Roman has dedicated over 17 years to fostering a spirit of unity and service. Serving as Club President in 2007-2008 and 2011-2012, and later as Club Foundation Chair from 2012-2016, Roman exemplified leadership and inspired countless initiatives that have made a difference in Ukraine and beyond. Since 2019, he continues to guide and inspire us as an Honorary Member.

This week, we proudly celebrated Roman’s second Paul Harris Fellow recognition—a reflection of his tireless dedication to Rotary’s ideals and his invaluable contributions to our mission. Roman Shwed’s kindness, wisdom, and generosity have left an indelible mark on our club and the lives of so many.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Roman's memory may be made to the Ukrainian Federation of America or Kyiv Multinational Rotary Club: "Our friends in the Danish NGO Cars for Ukraine have agreed that we can use their Stripe account. https://buy.stripe.com/eVq8wPee4bNFfdWab0dZ600.  Please write "Roman" in your address when making the payment."

From an interview with the Kyiv Post in 2005:  An American of Galician descent says coming to Ukraine has been like coming home

Leading up to the Post’s 10th birthday this fall, each week we’ll be highlighting members of the local business community who have played leading roles over the years. This week, we talk to architect Roman Shwed.

“Oh, and don’t forget to mention that we’re organizing a Rotary Club in English soon,” said architect Roman Shwed after an interview in the Drum, the downtown bar that’s a favorite of many ex-pats.

Shwed, an American of Galician descent, has a life story that in the beginning, at least, is typical of members of the Ukrainian Diaspora in the West. Born in Lviv just before World War II started, the 65-year-old Shwed remembers begging for food in the displaced persons camps in which so many Ukrainian war refugees lived. Then came refuge in the West: a crowded boat trip to the United States and settlement in Philadelphia, a major destination for Ukrainian immigrants at the time.

Like so many Diaspora families, his own carefully preserved its ethnic identity.

“In the dining room we would always have a tryzub [the Ukrainian national emblem] on the wall. Underneath was the Lviv emblem and then Taras Shevchenko, Ivan Franko and Lesya Ukrainka. My friends used to come over and look at these portraits and say ‘Your family?’ and I’d say ‘Yep.’ So I thought I lived in Lviv no matter where I was.”

His childhood memories of his refugee ship’s arrival in New York Harbor are cinematic.

“I remember my father waking me up at six o’clock in the morning. We walked out on the deck and there’s the Statue of Liberty coming right out of the water. It was really, really great, the kind of thing you always remember.”

Coming home

In 1994, Shwed had long been established as an architect, in Florida. Then a friend, also a Ukrainian-American, asked him to participate in an architectural project in Ukraine.

“When I arrived [in Ukraine] I thought I’d get teary eyes, kneel down, kiss the ground, do all that. And I got off the plane, looked around and said: ‘Hey, I’m at home.’ It was a homecoming for me.”

“I came here because a friend of mine was redoing a dacha…. It was Shcherbitsky’s dacha in Pushcha Vodytsya,” he says, referring to the notorious Brezhnev-era head of Ukraine’s Communist Party.

“No one really knows much about it. I know everything about it. ‘Cause I was the guy that made the dacha happen.”

The dream, says Shwed, was to make those 11 acres of resort land and the lovely buildings on them into something like Camp David for the Ukrainian government. It never happened, but the project made the pages of the prestigious U.S. magazine Architectural Digest, Shwed remembers.

After the Shcherbitsky dacha project was done, Shwed decided to stay in Kyiv.

“I enjoy the place, I think the people are great, and I just feel comfortable here,” he says. “It’s interesting and dynamic. Things are always happening.”

“I am basically retired now,” he continues, adding that he still does some architectural projects in Ukraine and stays active. “Not to make a big deal of my age, but at my age in America it’s hard to get hired, because you’re supposed to be retired.”

His experience as an architect is often in demand in Ukraine, especially when the country’s economy started growing and, with it, people’s desire to build.

He’s often invited to work as a consultant on renovation projects, such as the U.S.-based New Century Holding’s reconstruction of the Lybid Hotel, and does work for private clients. Orders come from Russia as well as Ukraine.

“People call me and say ‘Roman, you have to do this one’….We did a nice apartment on Volodymyrska in that big building where Sofiyska Brama is…I’ve done a penthouse apartment in Moscow, and the owner was very happy with it.”

Right now he works with Kyiv’s VIL-147 design bureau. “It’s a fun group to work with,” he says. “And I’m just an overall nice guy there.”

“There’s need for my talent. People appreciate what I do and I get a chance to share a Western approach to design,” Shwed says about his work in Ukraine. A private house that he recently designed on Zverinitska, he says, looks like it naturally belongs to the city, unlike the nouveau riche mansions in Koncha Zaspa.

“Architecture is a very delicate thing. People don’t understand how delicate it is, and that’s why we have some of the monstrosities that we find in Kyiv right now,” Shwed says. “Not that the buildings are bad. They’re just in the wrong place.”

Shwed is also dabbling in broadcasting, hosting a radio show on Ukrainian National Radio. The station broadcasts his program “Vidrodgennya” (Renais-sance) every Thursday.

“It’s a group therapy thing for me and I enjoy it,” Shwed laughs, “I talk about the Diaspora, since that’s what I am. I play Ukrainian groups from Canada, from the States, from England, Germany, Poland. I play music, and I talk, I bullshit. It’s mostly nonsense. It’s an ego trip for me.”

Shwed spends his own money to transfer music from vinyl to disc so he can play it on the show, but he doesn’t mind. He feels he’s involved in an important bit of cultural outreach, since native Ukrainians tend to know little about the Diaspora and how it lives.

Shwed has completed about 70 live broadcasts, and has earned a following. “It’s a lot of adrenaline,” he says.

Kyiv’s Rotary Club has been another of Shwed’s hobby for six years now. The club helps orphanages, organizes cultural exchange programs and does a lot of charity work in Kyiv. Shwed is currently working on organizing an English-Language Rotary Club. And after that?

“I’d love to do a Ukrainian talk-show on Ukrainian television, like at 11 o’clock, kind of Jay Leno. Something that could be fun…. It’s a dream, but hey, radio was a dream too.”

When he came to Ukraine, Shwed was divorced. His met his next wife in the lobby of the Natsionalny hotel, where she was selling souvenirs during the dark days of the mid-1990’s.

“I fell in love with her eyes,” Shwed says, admitting that though he dated a lot, he was by that time tired of coming home to an empty apartment. They got married in 1999. Now Shwed and his wife travel to Florida, where the winters are somewhat more pleasant than they are in Kyiv. His 24-year-old son from his first marriage visits him in Ukraine, and even spent a year in Kyiv studying at Pechersk International School, which, as Shwed puts it, “cost more than sending him to a private school in Florida.” Now Shwed says his son wants to come and live in Ukraine.

As for himself, Shwed is here to stay.

“This is really the place,” he says. “I am going travel a lot, but I’m going to stay in Ukraine for the rest of my life.”

In lieu of flowers, donations in Roman's memory may be made to the Ukrainian Federation of America or Kyiv Multinational Rotary Club: "Our friends in the Danish NGO Cars for Ukraine have agreed that we can use their Stripe account. https://buy.stripe.com/eVq8wPee4bNFfdWab0dZ600.  Please write "Roman" in your address when making the payment."

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