Stephen Pawlyshyn

Stephen Pawlyshyn, beloved
husband, father, grandfather and great
grandfather, died peacefully on
January 7, 2026 at the age of 89. A
fifty-eight year resident of St. Anthony
Village, Minnesota, Steve will be
remembered for his generous spirit,
love of family, top-notch soccer skills
and his Hulk Hogan-like grip.
Steve was born in the village of
Zhyznomyr, in the Buchach district of
the Ternopil oblast of Ukraine in 1936.
During World War II, with Stalin
coming from one way and Hitler from
the other, Steve's parents had to flee
Ukraine. They spent several years in
refugee camps in Nordhausen and
Mannheim, Germany. Eventually,
when their area of Germany was
liberated by the Americans, Steve, his
parents, siblings, grandma and many
aunts, uncles and cousins ended up in
North America. Steve's parents,
Walter and Maria and their six children
were sponsored by a farmer in
Louisiana. However, when the ship
arrived at port in New Orleans, the
sponsoring farmer did not show up.
The captain of the ship said to them:
"We have one more stop in Savannah,
Georgia. I'll see if I can find somebody
there to take you." The captain found a
cotton farmer to sponsor them. For his
support, they would work on the cotton
farm for two years. Somehow, without
modern technologies (e.g., Google,
cell phones, AI…), Steve's parents
were able to connect with relatives in
Minneapolis, specifically Steve's dad's
brother, Michael Pawlyszyn. They
decided to send their daughter
Katherine to Minneapolis to see if it
would be a good fit for the family. After
getting Katherine's approval, the rest
of the family made their way to
Minneapolis. Steve settled into
Sheriden Junior High and eventually

went to Marshall University High
School in southeast Minneapolis.
Steve developed a love for soccer in
Germany where he played with much
older kids and adults and quickly
earned a reputation for being a great
ball handler. His passion for soccer
continued with him to Minnesota
where he played with the Tigers, Kyiv
Soccer Club and Ukrainian Soccer
Club (USC), winning more than 12
championships in the top men's
league. Later, and well into his 40s
and early 50s, he played several years
with the St. Paul Blackhawks. Steve
was also a youth soccer coach, and at
some point, coached all five of his
sons and many of their friends. He
also started the first youth soccer
program in St. Anthony Village. Steve
was inducted into the Minnesota
Soccer Hall of Fame.
In his younger years, Steve also had a
passion for nice cars and fast cars,
earning himself several speeding
tickets and a visit to the judge.
Steve also enjoyed fishing and had a
collection of over 500 fishing rods. He
loved watching the Minnesota North
Stars and Wild. In his 30s and 40s, he
loved playing broomball and, in his
early 50s, Steve ran several Twin
Cities and Grandma's marathons.
Steve spent about 45 years as a
bricklayer. He didn't want any of his
five sons to have to work so hard and
reminded them regularly that they
needed a college degree with each of
them graduating from the University of
St. Thomas.
In 1957, Steve met the love of his life,
Ann Konopliv. In their more than 67
years of marriage, Steve and Ann
enjoyed walking together, going to
garage sales, playing league volleyball
and kittenball, fishing, cross-country
skiing, having wine and drinks (aka

"juice") with friends and traveling to
Calgary, Mexico and Florida.
Steve is survived by his wife Ann,
daughter-in-law Terry, sons Paul
(Sue), Steve (Renee), Bill (Sharon),
John (Marcy) as well as thirteen
grandchildren: Matty (Ahna), Natalie
(Bennett); Madison (Nate), Hannah
(Brennan), Grace; Max (Tara), Sophie,
Marko; Whitney, Emily & Carson; Ben
and Lauren; and four great
grandchildren Brody & Riley; Harrison;
Miles. He's also survived by sister
Sally Pawlyshyn Gallagher (Tom),
sisters-in-law Barb Pawlyshyn, Mary
Pawlyshyn and Nettie Konopliv,
several cousins, many nieces and
nephews and some great friends and
neighbors in St. Anthony Village.
Steve is preceded in death by his son
Wally Pawlyshyn, parents, Walter and
Maria Pawlyshyn, in-laws Ivan and
Tania Konopliv, sisters Olga
Pawlyshyn Lozowy and Katherine
Pawlyshyn Papirchuk, brothers Mike
Pawlyshyn and Bill Pawlyshyn,
brothers-in-law Walter Papirchuk, Nick
Konopliv and Walter Konopliv and
sister-in-law Margie Konopliv.
The memorial service will be held on
Tuesday January 13 at St.
Constantine Ukrainian Catholic
Church, 10 am visitation and 11 am
prayer service. Tributes to Stephen will
occur at the luncheon, following the
service.