Maria Wedmid

Maria Cenko Wedmid of Somerset, New Jersey passed away peacefully on October 2, 2021, age 95. Maria was born on October 27, 1925 to Gregory and Kathryn Cenko in the village of Nizhne Synovidne, in the foothills of the Carpathian mountains of Ukraine that was occupied by Poland at the time. At age fifteen, she was taken from her family by train to Germany as a forced laborer and worked on a dairy farm near Constance. After the end of World War II, she was forcibly repatriated to the Soviet Union but bravely jumped off the slow-moving train and walked and hitchhiked back to her farm in Germany. The others who stayed on the train were sent to Siberia. In Germany, she met and married John Wedmid, a Ukrainian displaced person, and they had a son. They located her uncle Wasyl Cenko in New Jersey and were sponsored as immigrants to the United States. They first settled in Jersey City where their daughter was born, but later the family moved to Freehold where Maria helped her husband found the business called Howell Millwork. They were active in the church community at St. Andrew Memorial Ukrainian Orthodox Church in South Bound Brook. After she was widowed, Maria moved in 1989 to Ukrainian Village in Somerset. She became active in the Sisterhood of St. Andrew Memorial Church and volunteered weekly for decades baking and preparing food for church events and funeral lunches. She was known for her strength of character and work ethic, as well as for her green thumb. She loved growing vegetables and flowers. She had a deep faith and spiritual life. Mrs. Wedmid was predeceased by her husband, John, in 1982. She is survived by her son, Yuri Wedmid, and his wife Nina of Bridgewater; her daughter Rosalie Wedmid Norair, and husband Richard Norair of Potomac, Maryland; her grandchildren, Drs. Alexei and Myra Wedmid of Princeton, Anatole and Rebecca Wedmid of Cranford, Tania and Yura Pylyp of Bernardsville, John and Antonina Norair of San Francisco, California, and Christina and Kent Johnson of San Mateo, California; ten great-grandchildren; her sister Rosalia Renylo, as well as nieces and extended family in Ukraine. Visitation and funeral liturgy will be held 10:00 a.m. Saturday, October 9, at St. Andrew Memorial Ukrainian Orthodox Church, South Bound Brook. Burial will be at St. Andrew Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, P.O. Box 495, South Bound Brook, NJ 08880, or to the Ukrainian Historical and Educational Center of New Jersey, 130 Davidson Avenue, Somerset, New Jersey 08873. Vichnaya Pamyat! May her memory be eternal!