Submitted photo.... Mike Vasilchek displays a sign for the Simply Slavic festival in downtown Youngstown. He has become a passionate preservationist of his Carpatho-Rusyn heritage.

YOUNGSTOWN — Mike Vasilchek always had a keen fascination with his Carpatho-Rusyn heritage traced back to his ancestors in the Carpathian Mountains in eastern Slovakia.

In 2005, Vasilchek returned home from Evansville, Ind., to take care of his parents. It was at this point when Vasilchek wanted to become closer to his roots and traditions.

At the time, Vasilchek was working in contracting and electrical engineering as well as project management. He would travel a great deal on his job and while he was working on a project that was out of town, he would look in the phone books to see if there were any Vasilcheks in the area, as well as meeting other fellow ethnic Rusyns.

“If it was Sunday and I was out of town on a project, I would try to go to a Byzantine Catholic Church in that area. Sometimes I would have to stay over on the weekends if I was in charge of an electrical installation project (power and controls) and I would try to go to church every Sunday. It was nice whenever I would find a Byzantine Catholic Church in another town where I was working,” Vasilchek said.

Vasilchek got involved with the Carpatho-Rusyn Society Youngstown/Warren/ Sharon Chapter in 2007. This chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society was founded by Robert Demoko in 2005, and Jim Basista is the current president.

The Carpatho-Rusyn Society Youngstown/Warren/ Sharon Chapter has coordinated numerous cultural events in the area, including a Vatra (bonfire) Autumn Event at Infant Jesus of Prague Byzantine Catholic Church in Boardman, dinner meetings on a variety of Rusyn topics, as well as hosting a wide array of guest speakers. The Carpatho-Rusyn Society Youngstown/Warren/Sharon Chapter has been a part of local events such as the Simply Slavic Heritage Festival in downtown Youngstown every June and the YSU Summer Festival of the Arts. Vasilchek said he takes great pride in these opportunities to share his knowledge with the broader community.

“At the Simply Slavic festival, people come over to our cultural table always asking us ‘what am I?’ and wanting to know where in Eastern Europe their families originated. We give you a feeling that you are at an event in the Carpathian Mountain region, but the festival acknowledges all Slavic cultures. It was great to be back this year in 2022 after a two-year COVID hiatus,” Vasilchek said.

GROWING UP

Vasilchek (original European spelling Vasilcik) attended Byzantine Catholic Central School (BCC) for grade school and is a graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School. He then went to Youngstown State University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering

“My parents were originally from Struthers. My father, Michael Vasilchek, was born in Sheffield, Pa., and his parents came from Eastern Slovakia near the Ukrainian border. My mother, Ann Hudak, was born in Bulger, Pa., and her family came from Eastern Slovakia as well,” Vasilchek said. “My father later came to Struthers and my mother settled in the Girard area. My mother’s father worked for Ohio Works Steel Mill. My father was a blast furnace blower foreman at Sheet and Tube Campbell Works,” Vasilchek said.

The Carpatho-Rusyn Society is a non-profit organization based in Munhall, Pa., and has many chapters across the United States. The society’s focus is to bring greater knowledge and sense of tradition to those of Rusyn heritage as well as those who are curious about the culture itself.

Rusyns are an ethnic group under the Eastern Slavic category and live in the Carpathian Mountain region of Eastern Europe such as Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Russia. There is also a population in Canada and in the northeastern part of the United States.

“My family went to SS. Peter and Paul Ruthenian Church in Struthers. My grandmother spoke Rusyn, Slovak and Hungarian. The Rusyn people never had an official country, so they adapted to whatever country in Eastern Europe they managed to settle. Their society was themselves and their church. The church was the community they could trust. Some Rusyns lived in Poland, parts of Ukraine, Serbia-Herzegovina and Hungary,” Vasilchek said.

He is the secretary of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society Youngstown/Warren Sharon Chapter. His role consists of organizing activities, creating a lot of the history, creating maps and distinguishing where the Rusyn people lived in Eastern Slovakia, Southeastern Poland and Northwestern Ukraine.

With his experience of traveling to Eastern Slovakia, Vasilchek had the opportunity to really connect with his ancestors on a deeper level. He said that when he visited various villages, he was able to speak portions of the Rusyn language and knew the customs.

For Vasilchek, the Rusyns brought many great assets with them to the United States.

“They could live under any kind of condition with government, society and economy. They were self-reliant and resourceful people. The Rusyns who immigrated to the United States adapted very quickly. They wanted something better for themselves and their children. The reason why they called their country back home ‘the old country’ was because they felt like there was no future there,” Vasilchek said.

Vasilchek worked for Alcoa Corporation for 25 years as a corporate electrical engineer. He then worked for AK Steel. He retired three years ago and now devotes more time in coordinating events for the society.

“I was interested in genealogy because of my father. He wrote down where his parents came from and he collected articles on the topic of Rusyns and articles on the history of Youngstown with the steel mills and their operating conditions,” Vasilchek said.

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