Denise Catherine Kolesar fonds
Denise Kolesar, a native of Neepawa, Manitoba, with family ties to the Polonia and Mountain Road areas, became interested in the life and works of Fr. Philip Ruh during research efforts for the 2004 Ukrainian Catholic Church Hundredth Anniversary Committee in Mountain Road, Manitoba. In October 2007, Kolesar conducted a research tour of churches in Saskatchewan and Alberta where she took digital photographs of churches. This digital collection consists of several digital photographs of the interiors and exteriors of Ukrainian Catholic churches in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Edward Swiecicki fonds
In 1959, Edward Swiecicki and his brother knights of St. Josaphat Council # 4138 of the Knights of Columbus, first committed to assist Fr. Philip Ruh with the Lourdes Grotto project in Cook’s Creek, Manitoba. When Fr. Ruh was on his deathbed in 1962, members of the Council vowed to complete the Lourdes Grotto for him. Organized in work crews, the volunteers laboured for a decade, modeling the structure as much as possible upon the original shrine in Lourdes, France. The digitized material from the Edward Swiecicki fonds consists of correspondence between Edward Swiecicki and the Very Reverend Monsignor J. Marty regarding the completion of the Grotto in Cook's Creek, Manitoba following the death of the architect, Father Philip Ruh. A photograph of the Grotto in Lourdes, France is also included.
Jaropolk Radkewycz fonds
In 1961, with the intention of entering the priesthood, Jaropolk Radkewycz began his studies at the Redemptorist Minor Seminary in Roblin, Manitoba. In 1967, he decided to begin studies for the diocesan priesthood, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Manitoba in 1971, followed by a Bachelor of Theology degree in 1974 and a Bachelor degree in Canon Law in 1975 at the University of St. Paul in Ottawa. He was ordained by Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk in Winnipeg in 1974. Radkewycz served in parishes in Winnipeg, Portage la Prairie and Brandon. In addition, he served as chaplain of St. Paul College at the University of Manitoba, as lecturer at the St. Boniface School of Nursing, as chairman of the Manitoba Medico-Moral Committee, and chaplain of the Catholic Physicians Guild in Manitoba. He served as assistant vicar general from May 1975, and as the Metropolitan’s secretary until the time of his accidental death on April 29, 1996. The digitized material from the Jaropolk Radkewycz fonds consists of nearly 80 photographs of the interiors and exteriors of several Ukrainian Catholic churches and church facilities throughout western Canada.
John Zborowsky fonds
In 1959, John Zborowsky Jr. and his brother knights of St. Josaphat Council # 4138 of the Knights of Columbus, first committed to assist Fr. Philip Ruh with the Lourdes Grotto project in Cook’s Creek, Manitoba. When Fr. Ruh was on his deathbed in 1962, members of the Council vowed to complete the Lourdes Grotto for him. Organized in work crews, the volunteers laboured for a decade, modeling the structure as much as possible upon the original shrine in Lourdes, France. Zborowsky served as Grand Knight from 1962 to 1963, compiling documentation of project expenses, funds raised, photos of various stages in the effort, work schedules, newspaper clippings, and related records. The digitized material from the John Zborowsky fonds consists of nearly 20 photographs illustrating the construction of the Lourdes Calvary Grotto and the Ukrainian Catholic church in Cook's Creek, Manitoba, as well as a photograph of St. Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic church in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk fonds
Maxim Hermaniuk served as the first Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Catholic Church of Canada from 1956 until 1993. Throughout this appointment Hermaniuk sat on many prominent commissions and councils and worked tirelessly to meet the religious, cultural and social needs of the Ukrainian Catholic community. The digitized material from the Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk fonds consists of several photographs of Ukrainian Catholic churches and church facilities in Manitoba.
Philip Ruh fonds
Philip Roux was born August 6, 1883 in Alsace-Lorraine, France. In 1898, Philip entered studies with the Oblate Fathers in Valkenburg, Holland. In 1905 he began his studies at St. Boniface Monastery in Hünfeld, Germany, where he was ordained into the order in 1910. Assigned to serve the Ukrainian Catholics in Canada, he first studied in Ukraine, learning the language, the customs, and the Byzantine rite. He served pioneer communities in north-eastern Alberta from 1913 to 1923, where he began to build churches, despite no formal architectural training. In 1924 he was assigned to ministry in Manitoba. The parish of Cook’s Creek was his home base from 1930 until his death on October 24, 1962. In 1941 he was elevated to the status of Canon. His dedication to the the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes, France inspired the Lourdes Calvary-Grotto in Cook’s Creek, the last of more than forty construction projects, designed or built by Ruh. The Grotto was unfinished at the time of his death. Several Ruh structures have been designated as historic sites. The digitized material from the Philip Ruh fonds consists of 15 blueprints created by Father Philip Ruh featuring his designs for Ukrainian Catholic churches, as well as nearly 200 photographs of the interiors and exteriors of Ukrainian Catholic churches and church facilities, many of which were designed and constructed by Father Ruh.
Roslyn Stanwick fonds
Roslyn Stanwick, native of Cook’s Creek, Manitoba, took digital photographs of the Cook's Creek Ukrainian Catholic Church and Grotto to illustrate a seminar presentation for a University of Winnipeg course. She was comparing the original Grotto in Lourdes, France with the Cook’s Creek Grotto, designed and undertaken by Rev. Philip Ruh, OMI, in 1954, in central Manitoba. The digitized material from the Roslyn Stanwick fonds consists of several digital photographs of the Lourdes Grotto and the Ukrainian Catholic church in Cook's Creek, Manitoba. Both structures were designed by Father Philip Ruh.
Sterling Demchinsky fonds
Sterling Demchinsky is an amateur photographer, a Canadian of Ukrainian descent, born in Flin Flon, Manitoba in 1957. He moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1975 for university, later departing for Ottawa to work as a technical writer for the Federal Government of Canada. Two decades later, he began to photograph Ukrainian churches, in particular churches of historic interest in forgotten corners of Ukrainian settlement on the Prairies and in British Columbia. With each successive year since the inception of the project, Demchinsky has continued his efforts, methodically recording historic and modern churches in select geographic locations. In addition, he has studied iconography, and has created a website to showcase in photo and in text, the results of his efforts.
Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg fonds
The Archeparchy of Winnipeg is the Metropolitan See of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Canada. It is led by the Metropolitan Archbishop of Winnipeg, Lawrence D. Huculak, OSBM. The Canadian Metropolia of the Ukrainian Catholic Church is comprised of this Archeparchy and its suffragan eparchies: New Westminster (British Columbia and the territory north), Edmonton (Alberta and the territory north), Saskatoon (Saskatchewan and the territory north), and Toronto and Eastern Canada (Ontario, Quebec, Atlantic Canada and the territory north). The archeparchy itself covers Manitoba and the territory north thereof. As of 2007, the archeparchy has 29,000 Catholics in 130 parishes, served by 29 eparchial priests, 11 monastic priests, 13 deacons, and 17 Women Religious. The digitized material from the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg fonds consists of an article written by Gloria Romaniuk, Archivst for the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg Archives, which tells the story of how a stone from Lourdes, France came to be installed in the Cook’s Creek Grotto, in Manitoba, and a 9:50 minute colour, silent DVD, entitled Building of St. Josaphat Cathedral, produced by the Basilian Fathers in Edmonton, Alberta, between 1939 to 1944.