Taissa Meleshko

1928 - 2015

Meleshko, Taissa passed away on September 17, 2015 in her home in Apopka, FL Mrs. Meleshko was the widow of the late Wolodymyr Decyk and the late Matthew Meleshko. She was born on October 15, 1928 in Warsaw, Poland, the daughter of the late Viktor Osinski and Natalia (Stefaniw) Osinska. Her parents were ethnically Ukrainian and she was raised in interwar Poland. During World War II, she lived under Nazi occupation and survived forced labor in Germany during the last year of the regime. After the end of World War II, she lived in a series of refugee camps and attended Heidelberg University. She arrived in the United States with her husband and first two children in January 1952. Mrs. Meleshko was an active communicant of Ukrainian Catholic churches, most recently St Mary Protectress of Apopka, FL. Mrs. Meleshko actively promoted Ukrainian history and Ukrainian folk arts such as traditional folk dancing, traditional counted thread embroidery, pysanky (Ukrainian Easter eggs), and gerdany (Ukrainian beaded necklaces.) In the past, she exhibited Ukrainian folk art in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and most recently at the Museum of Apopka, with an emphasis on educating people about Ukrainian history and culture, especially during the time Ukraine was not an independent country. Mrs. Meleshko was the mother of Viktor Decyk and Julian Decyk of California, Ulana Decyk Venditelli of Rhode Island, Roman Decyk of Apopka, and the late Lydia Decyk. She has two grandchildren, Dr. Marika Holte from Maine, and Taissa Decyk from Connecticut and three great-grandchildren, Eric and Emma Holte from Maine, and Laeca Kahl from Connecticut. She is survived by two sisters, Anna Krawczuk and Maria Polanskyj, and their families, all from New Jersey. Finally, she is survived by an extended family elsewhere in the United States, Ukraine and Canada. Calling hours will be from 4 PM and 7 PM on Sunday September 20, 2015 at Baldwin Fairchild Funeral Home, 601 N Park Ave, Apopka, FL. Mass of Burial at 10 AM at St. Mary Protectress Church, 305 Lake McCoy Drive, Apopka, FL. Burial will be at Edgewood/Greenwood Cemetery on Saturday September 26, 2015 at 10 AM. In lieu of flowers, donations to St. Mary Protectress Church, Ukrainian Scholarship Fund (UNWLA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM, PO BOX 24, Matawan, NJ 07747-0024), or Hospice of the Comforter of Florida Hospital.