On Monday, January 9, 2012, Olga Pawluk celebrated her 103rd birthday. A day before over 40 relatives including great great grandchildren celebrated with Mrs. Pawluk at the seniors home on LaRose Avenue in Toronto.
She was born Olga Geraimchuk in Kodnia near Zhitomyr, Ukraine, when it was a part of the Russian Empire. Russia then used the Julian calendar which made her birthday January 9th which she preferred to December 27th the date it would be according to the Gregorian calendar used in North America. She preferred the Julian date because it made her younger. If you ask her the secret of her long life she will answer with one word: walking.
In 1928 she escaped with her family from the Communist terror, collectivization, and probable exile in Siberia, and came to Winnipeg. In Canada she married Stephen Pawluk. Olga survived the WWII German bombing in London reading for a year in the British Museum. She cooperated with Lord Gaskell and Lancelot Lawton occasionally translating for them. She was in England because her husband Stephen was an electronics expert in the Royal Air Force and was working on the secret and important development of radar.
After the war they returned to live in Toronto where Olga became active in Branch 360 of the Royal Canadian Legion. She was active in the Ukrainian community and was the main organizer of three Ukrainian Music Festivals in the 1950s. She has an excellent memory and intelligence as sharp as a tack.
