Raisa Zelinsky, who endured forced labor as German forces occupied her native Ukraine and who later sold linens at the Hecht Co., died June 2 at the St. Joseph's Nursing Home in Catonsville. The former Northeast Baltimore and Columbia resident was 96.
Family members said no cause of death was determined.
Born to Wasyl and Juliana Bulawka in the Ukrainian town of Husiatyn, in what was then Poland, she was raised in Luboml, in what is now Ukraine.
"My mother spoke Ukrainian, Polish, Russian, German, and, later, English, fluently," said her son, Yuri Zelinsky of Takoma Park. "Although her formal education was interrupted by World War II, Raisa was an avid lifelong reader in several languages and had a remarkable ability to memorize and recite long passages from her readings."
He said she married Boris Zelinsky in 1941. The couple resided in Luboml. After the western Ukraine was occupied by German forces in World War II, Mrs. Zelinsky was pressed into forced labor in a German rail depot.
"She later was released and allowed to return to her hometown shortly before the birth of her daughter," said her son, who is an attorney. "Amid the chaos of the war, Raisa and Boris and their daughter escaped from Soviet Ukraine into Slovakia and ultimately made their way to the American sector of postwar Germany."
The family was interned in a displaced-persons camp in Bad Kissingen, Germany. While there, she gave birth to a second daughter.
She and her husband wanted to avoid repatriation to the Soviet Ukraine. In 1949, she and her family came to a farm near Carlisle, Pa. They paid the cost of their passage on a converted troopship, the General M.L. Hersey, by working for the farmer, who was divorced. Mrs. Zelinsky, an accomplished cook, made his meals and her husband did farm work. After paying what they owed the farmer, they moved to Baltimore.
"Both my mother and father became actively engaged in Baltimore's growing community of postwar refugees from Ukraine," her son said. "They were instrumental in the founding of St. Michael's Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Self-Reliance Ukrainian Federal Credit Union."
Mrs. Zelinsky worked as a nurse's aide and as a seamstress at the Pilot Blouse Co. and Corman & Wasserman trouser makers. They lived on North Collington Avenue near Patterson Park.
She and her husband became U.S. citizens. They later moved to Walther Avenue in Northeast Baltimore.
Mrs. Zelinsky sold linens for more than 20 years at the old Hecht Co. store in Northwood.
Her husband, who was a draftsman for the Vulcan-Hart stove firm, died in 1964.
"Despite very difficult economic circumstances, my mother set a nonnegotiable goal for herself and her children — the completion of their educations," her son said. "Her perseverance, strong work ethic and sense of purpose enabled all of her children to complete college and earn graduate degrees."
Mrs. Zelinsky was a devoted churchgoer and was active in the parish sisterhood at St. Michael's. She was a leader in the national association of Ukrainian Orthodox Sisterhoods in the U.S. She also volunteered at the Ukrainian National Women's League of America and other Ukrainian organizations. She organized cultural and literary evenings and community commemorations of events in Ukrainian history.
"She preserved and perpetuated Ukrainian culture in the United States," her son said. "She was also a stunning cook. She lived in the kitchen. It was her form of diversion."
He recalled her borscht, dumplings and cabbage rolls, as well as her Christmas Eve feast that involved 12 meatless courses.
"Family gatherings typically revolved around her generously set table," he said. He said she taught her children and grandchildren the language, traditions and holiday celebrations of her native land.
In her later years, Mrs. Zelinsky lived with her sister, Anna Samutyn, in Columbia, where they hosted family gatherings and celebrations. Mrs. Zelinsky returned to visit Ukraine four times with her sister and family.
She also kept up on the news of her native region. "She remained optimistic that Ukraine would become a thriving independent democratic nation," her son said.
Services are private.
In addition to her son, survivors include her two daughters, Jaroslawa Johnson of Chicago and Maria Oliver of Ellicott City; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.