Arabchuk, Peter

Peter Arabchuk was born in Edmonton on June 15, 1940. His father, Paul Arabchuk (Paweɫ Arabczuk), was born in Krzywotuły Stare (Stari Krywotuly), Galicia, Austria in 1904. Paul entered Canada on March 17th, 1929, immigrating on the SS Regina. He left his parents, Peter Arabczuk and Annie Frank, behind, along with his siblings. He settled in Edmonton, where he met his wife Ivie at a dance. (This this is likely her preferred spelling since it seems to be the one Peter used in his writings and it is on her tombstone, but on many official documents, she is also called Ivy. Her birth name was Tefana, but she had that formally changed to her middle name later in life.)

Ivie Tefana Basistuik was born in Bellis, Alberta in 1917. Ivie’s father, Todor (Sometimes spelled as Teodor, also mentioned as Fred on Ivie's marriage certificate) Basistuik was born in 1885 in Miliyiw, Austria, and immigrated to Canada in 1912, settling in the general Edmonton area. Ivie’s mother, Wasylena (Lina) Megley, was from Bannila, Austria. She was born in 1899, and immigrated to Canada with her parents, Wasyl Megley (Mygley) and Anathasia Chornohus, when she was only a year old in 1900. She was the oldest of ten siblings, the rest of whom were born in the Shandro area.

Wasylena and Todor were married in 1916, which was both of their second marriages. They had eight children together, of whom Ivie was the second oldest, following her sister Nellie. Although primarily a farmer, Ivie remembers that Todor was a well known moonshiner in the area, and did several stints in prison as a result, leading to hard times for the family. In October of 1932, Ivie’s mother Wasylena died in childbirth. As the oldest unmarried child, Ivie feared being forced to take over for all the household duties on her own and raise her younger siblings, so she ran away from home that winter. In the months that followed, she relied on a network of extended family members, friends, and acquaintances to find room and board and evade her father. During this time, she would live in Smoky Lake, Cadron, Lloydminster (SK), and Streamstown (SK) before finally coming to Edmonton in 1934, working a variety of household and agricultural jobs. She married Paul in 1938. They lived in the Edmonton area, first on a small farm, with Paul taking any agricultural jobs he could find, and later downtown when he worked on the NAR Extra Gang. The couple had two children together, Peter, the eldest, and his sister Caroline, who was born in 1942. Paul became a naturalized Canadian citizen on March 25th 1946, and Ivie, who had lost her citizenship when she married Paul, regained her status on June 22 1964.

Growing up in Edmonton, Peter attended Victoria Composite High School and later graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Arts and Science Degree. He loved to read, golf, and volunteered with the Edmonton Ski Patrol. Peter was also an active member and the president of the Alberta Mycological Society. He was very dedicated to preserving history and culture, and his collection at BMUFA is full of carefully documented family history, including copies of his father’s passports and immigration documents.

Since 2018, Peter Arabchuk has supported the development of the Kule Folklore Centre through the establishment of the Peter Arabchuk Endowment Fund for the Advancement of Ukrainian Canadian Cultural Heritage Preservation. His generosity has allowed for the creation of the Sustainable Ukrainian Canadian Heritage Network (SUCH), a research and education program that aims to assist Ukrainian Canadians with preserving their cultural heritage by increasing accessibility to archival resources.
On Monday, May 29, 2023, Peter Arabchuk passed away at the age of 82.

• Krzywotuły Stare (Stari Krywotuly), Galicia, Austria
• Bannila, Austria
• Regena, Canada
• Smoky Lake, Cadron, Lloydminster, SK, Canada
• Streamstown, SK, Canada
• Edmonton, AB, Canada