Gregory H. Dobusz

Gregory Hryhorij Dobusz, age 97, passed away peacefully on Thursday October 6, 2022 at the Ukrainian Village, Somerset, NJ.

Gregory is one of the last of the great generation of WWII Ukrainian immigrants who kept the free Ukrainian flame glowing in the diaspora during Soviet occupation. He, and many like him, dedicated much of their lives to building and supporting our Ukrainian communities, churches and organizations – also providing subsequent generations of immigrants a welcome landing. He was always a passionate patriot of Ukraine, fighting continuously for its independence. Since 1940, he was a member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and was in its leadership for 20 years. For many years, he also served on the boards of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), Organization for the Defense of Four Freedoms for Ukraine (ODFFU), the Ukrainian American Freedom Foundation, Inc. (UAFF) and was active in many other Ukrainian organizations.

He was born in Zaruddia, Ukraine, to Vasyl and Ksenia (nee Stadnyk) Dobusz. At age seven he and his family moved to the village of Prisivtsi, where he grew up. The oldest of 5 siblings, brothers Petro and Yaroslav and sisters Hannya and Stefania, all predeceased him in Ukraine. Having been a young freedom fighter in the Ukrainian Underground, he was forced to leave his entire family in Ukraine when Nazi and Soviet troops invaded Ukraine during WWII, and he joined the many Ukrainian refugees in Europe.

Gregory met his future wife, Halyna Sydorenko, in a refugee camp in Stephanskirchen, Germany and married February 20, 1949 before immigrating to the United States on July 14 of that year. The young couple started life in the US on the eastern shore of Maryland, lived briefly in Newark NJ, raised their young family in Green Brook, and for the last 55 years settled in a home they built in Bridgewater.

Professionally, Gregory was a successful builder in central New Jersey, who took great pride in the homes that he built, including his own home in Bridgewater. He worked as a self-employed contractor for over 50 years.

He is survived by his daughter Olia Lupan and her husband Walter, of Dover, MA and grandchildren Andrew Lupan, Los Angeles, CA and Nina Lupan, Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as a large extended family in the United States and Ukraine.

Mr. Dobusz is predeceased by his wife, the late Halyna Dobusz in 2017 and his son Taras Dobusz, also in 2017.

Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend the gathering on Wednesday October 12, 2022, at 10-11 am, at St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Memorial Church, South Bound Brook, NJ, followed by a funeral service at 11 am and interment at St. Andrew Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, charitable donations for humanitarian aid to Ukraine can be made in the name of Gregory Hryhorij Dobusz to:

UKRAINE FORWARD - the non-profit initiative of the UKRAINIAN AMERICAN EDUCATION CENTER, Inc. of Boston.

Please visit UkraineForward.org to donate online, or mail checks written to UAEC, Inc. to: UKRAINE FORWARD, c/o Christ the King Ukrainian Catholic Church, 146 Forest Hills Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

Vichnaya Pamyat – Eternal Memory!