Obituary of RT. REV. PROTOPRESBYTER DR. STEPHAN JARMUS

RIGHT REVEREND PROTOPRESBYTER DR. STEPHAN JARMUS On Wednesday, April 8, 2015, the Rt. Reverend Protopresbyter Dr. Stephan Jarmus fell asleep in the Lord at the age of 89 years at Holy Family Nursing Home, in Winnipeg, MB. Stephan Onysymovych Jarmus was born May 25, 1925, in the village of Lidykhiv in the Volyn’ region of western Ukraine. Stephan’s village was only a few kilometers from the Pochayiv Monastery, and he would visit the monastery regularly from the Paschal season in the spring through the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God in August. In July 1942, Stephan was deported to Germany, where he worked as an industrial laborer until the end of 1944. The Second World War would continue to interrupt his life and by 1948 Stephan found himself in a displaced persons’ camp near Grantham, England. After three years as an agricultural worker, Stephan became a factory worker and soon enrolled as a correspondence student of the British Institute of General Mechanical Engineering. In England, Stephan met Constance Houghton and they married in 1955. They were blessed with a son, Andrew, in 1964. After pastoral studies in 1955, Stephan was ordained into the diaconate and then into the priesthood in September 1956. The family moved to London later that year, where Fr. Stephan served a local Ukrainian Orthodox parish. He left for Canada in 1960 to pursue further theological studies at St. Andrew’s College, in Winnipeg, MB. He became a permanent resident of Canada in 1962 and a Canadian citizen in 1968. Fr. Stephan was an accomplished academic. In 1962, he received a Licentiate in Theology from St. Andrew’s College. He furthered his studies, earning a Bachelor of Arts (University of Manitoba) in 1974. In 1977 he received his Bachelor of Theology (St. Andrew’s College), as well as a Masters of Sacred Theology, including the completion of two units of Clinical Pastoral Education (Interfaith Pastoral Institute, University of Winnipeg). In 1981, Fr. Stephan received his Doctor of Ministry degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary, later completing a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree at the seminary. Over the years after the fall of the USSR, he also received several honorary doctorates from academic institutions in Ukraine. Fr. Stephan was a professor at St. Andrew’s College in Winnipeg from 1969-2004. He served as the College’s dean from 1995-1998. He was the author of numerous articles and books on such topics as theology, philosophy, culture, psychology, spirituality and gerontology. Among his best-known English-language works were “Spirituality of the Ukrainian People,” and “On the Issues of Again, Sickness, and Dying,” which he co-authored with his son, Andrew. Fr. Stephan actively served in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada since 1962 in many capacities. He served as parish priest for the parishes of Winnipeg Rural Parish District from 1963-67, for the Sheho, SK, Parish District from 1967-69, and St. Vladimir’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Kenora, ON, from 1962-67 and again from 1979 until recently. St. Vladimir’s parish in Kenora held a very special place in Fr. Stephan’s heart. To him, the members there were not only parishioners but immediate family. Fr. Stephan devoted many years to administrative work in the UOCC. He was long-time editor of the “Visnyk/The Herald,” the Churches official newspaper. He also served as Chancellor of the UOCC from 1985-1990. In this capacity, Fr. Stephan played an instrumental role the UOCC’s establishment of Communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, engaging in various official and personal dialogues with now Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. Since the fall of the USSR, Fr. Stephan had the opportunity to return to Ukraine numerous times, visiting family and taking part in seminars and lectures throughout the country. His greatest hope was to see Ukraine emerge as an exemplary democratic country, standing as an equal among other European nations and embodying the finest characteristics of its Christian heritage. Fr. Stephan became an Honorary Research Fellow of the Institute of Philosophy at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Professor Emeritus Kyiv Orthodox Theological Academy (Kiev Patriarchate), and Professor Emeritus of the Department of Philosophy at Lesya Ukrainka Eastern European National University. Fr. Stephan is predeceased by his wife, Dobrodijka Constance, father Onysym, mother Yefrosynia, and several brothers and sisters. He leaves to mourn his son, Archpriest Andrew Jarmus and wife Kristi, grandsons Aidan, Isaiah, and Jonah, all of Fort Wayne, Indiana, together with numerous friends, colleagues and former students in Canada, the USA, Ukraine, and throughout Europe. Fr. Stephan’s family would like to acknowledge and thank the staff at Holy Family Nursing Home for their care for Fr. Stephan over the past months. They also thank His Eminence, Metropolitan Yurij, Primate of the UOCC, for his devoted pastoral care of Fr. Stephan in his final hours. Thanks also go to the staff of Cropo Funeral Chapel for their compassionate care of Fr. Stephan and his family in preparation for funeral services. Finally, Fr. Stephan’s family wishes to offer special, heartfelt thanks to Mrs. Jean Yeates, for her friendship and tireless support of Fr. Stephan over the past several years. May the Lord bless her abundantly for her faithfulness and compassion. The Funeral Office for a Priest for Fr. Stephan Jarmus will take place Thursday, April 16, 2015, 7:00 PM, at St Mary the Protectress Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, 820 Burrows Avenue in Winnipeg. The Hierarchical Divine Liturgy and conclusion of the Funeral Office will take place at St. Mary the Protectress on Friday, April 17, 2015, at 9:30 AM. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. May Fr. Stephan’s Memory Eternal! VICHNAYA PAMYAT!