Joseph WERBIANSKY

14 MAR 1937 - 13 JUL 2017

• BIRTH: 14 MAR 1937, Brody, L'viv, Ukraine
• DEATH: 13 JUL 2017, Union, Cass, MI

• MARRIAGE: 7 DEC 1961, Union,Cass County, MI

1.  David WERBIANSKY
2.  Joseph WERBIANSKY

INDEX

[N17174] JOSEPH WERBIANSKY March 14, 1937 - July 13, 2017
UNION, Mich. - Joseph Werbiansky, 80, of Union, passed away Thursday, July 13, 2017 at his home, surrounded by family, after battling leukemia for over a year. He was born in Brody, Ukraine on March 14, 1937, the third son of Victor and Sophia (Bohdan) Werbiansky. With his family, including grandparents Dymytro and Barbara (Romaniuk) Bohdan, he fled Ukraine in 1944, during the advance by the Soviet Army. After a hard year of travel, during which his grandfather Dymytro was killed in an air raid in Austria, Joe and his remaining family ended up in an American-run Displaced Persons’ camp in Berchtesgaden, Germany, residing in a barrack at Strub Kaserne. In 1949 the family emigrated to New Paris, Indiana under the sponsorship of the George and Rachel Weybright family. Joe was 12 years old. He attended New Paris schools until his family moved to Elkhart, in 1951. Joe became a naturalized American citizen, and served proudly in the United States Army from 1956 to 1960, becoming an Infantryman at Fort Benning, Georgia, and later being stationed in Schweinfurt, West Germany. He married Donna Main of Union on Dec. 7, 1961. They have two sons, Joseph (Diane) Jr., of Elkhart, and David (Larissa) Werbiansky, of Lambertville, Michigan, four grandchildren, Jessica (Steven Elder), Anthony, Lauren, and Samantha, and one great-grandchild, Michael Elder. He is also survived by two brothers, Eugene Werbiansky and John Werbianskyj, and two sisters, Mary A. Houston, and Oxana Werbiansky-Fish, and many nieces, nephews, and in-laws. His beloved dog Ginger is also left behind to miss him. He was a member of St. Michael’s Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic Church in Mishawaka and helped on the building and grounds committee. He finished his working career at the Elkhart Railroad Yard and after retirement traveled around Michigan with his wife. He belonged to the Cass County Conservation Club, and enjoyed target shooting. He reveled in his grandchildren, and loved telling them stories about his life during World War II and his service in the Army.Cremation will take place. There will be an informal Celebration of Life for this extraordinarily strong man on Saturday, Aug. 19, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Elkhart, 1732 Garden Street, from 1 - 3 p.m. Arrangements entrusted to Elkhart Cremation Services.