Obituary of Zenowij Onyshkewych
Zenowij Onyshkewych was born in Lviv, Ukraine on December 8, 1929. In 1944, his family and he were forced from their home and into a German work camp in Vienna. In 1946, the U.S. Army transported the family to a displaced persons camp in Munich, where Zenowij completed high school and began to study art. The family entered the United States in 1949, settling in Queens, NY. Zenowij studied at the Art Students' League of New York and then served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Upon return from the war, he continued his studies on two consecutive scholarships at the National Academy of Fine Arts and graduated from Pratt Institute with a B.F.A.
Zenowij was a life-time member of the American Watercolor Society, and his work can be found in many prestigious collections, including the Vatican, where he was commissioned to paint a life size portrait of Pope John Paul XI in 1967. He presented the portrait to the Pope in his residence and received a medal for his work.
Zenowij Onyshkewych was a plein-air painter, known for his works done on location during extended stays abroad in Switzerland, France and Italy. In the summer of 1999, the Musée de Bagnes hosted an exhibit, showcasing over 60 of his mountain scenes from across the Entremont region of Switzerland. In the U.S, Zenowij was known to take his easel, paints and canvas and head out to paint all along the east coast. Many of his works have been exhibited in galleries across the country. His most recent exhibit, ¨Sixty Years as an Artist¨ was held at the Ukrainian Museum in NYC in 2015-16. He is also known for his work in the graphic arts, which includes illustrations and graphic works for The New York Times, Golf Digest, Tennis Magazine, Reader's Digest and American publishing houses. He was also an adjunct professor of drawing and painting at Fairfield University for 24 years.
Zenko, as he was commonly called, had the rare quality of focusing on the beautiful in life, despite the atrocities of war that forced his family out of Ukraine. He wanted to connect viewers to nature through his paintings. Art was his story; the brush was his pen. Nature was his teacher, his inspiration and his greatest critic. Zenkoś family remained his true treasure. In his life with them, there were always more mountains to climb, more runs to ski, many more fish to catch and more stories to tell. Above all else, he will be remembered for the love and loyalty he had toward his wife, children and grandchildren.
He will be sadly missed by his children, Andrij Onyshkewych and Lena Payne; his grandchildren, Ryan and Henry Payne; and many beloved extended family members.
The Liturgy of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, January 8th at 10:30 am at St. Nicholas Byzantine Church in Danbury. Burial will follow in Newtown Village Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the Cornell Memorial Home, 247 White Street, Danbury, on Monday between the hours of 5:00 – 7:00pm.
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The Liturgy of Christian Burial
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