Savella Stechishin nee Wawryniuk came to Canada as a child from Ukraine in 1913 with her family and settled in Saskatchewan. Her parents sent her to a student residence, Petro Mohyla Ukrainian Institute in Saskatoon, to obtain a high school education. Still in her teens, she formulated her goals to help uplift Ukrainian immigrant and Canadian born women of Ukrainian descent to meet Canadian standards. She married at the tender age of 17 and became a mother within the year of marriage. This did not deter her determination to become an educated woman and she continued her schooling, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan, being the first woman of Ukrainian descent to do so. She went on to teach Home Economics Savella Stechishin nee Wawryniuk came to Canada as a child from Ukraine in 1913 with her family and settled in Saskatchewan. Her parents sent her to a student residence, Petro Mohyla Ukrainian Institute in Saskatoon, to obtain a high school education. Still in her teens, she formulated her goals to help uplift Ukrainian immigrant and Canadian born women of Ukrainian descent to meet Canadian standards. She married at the tender age of 17 and became a mother within the year of marriage. This did not deter her determination to become an educated woman and she continued her schooling, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan, being the first woman of Ukrainian descent to do so. She went on to teach Home Economics to women in the Ukrainian bloc settlements of Saskatchewan. Along with other young like minded women in Saskatoon, her goal of uniting women of Ukrainian descent was achieved by founding the national Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada. significant contributions toward the recognition and preservation of the richness and beauty of Ukrainian traditions and handicrafts in Canada. In addition to being awarded many honors, Ms. Stechishin was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1989, was a recipient of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 1998, and had been described as "an ethnocultural social maternal feminist."
She was also the Dean of Women at the Petro Mohyla Institute, where she organized evening courses in cooking, homemaking, Ukrainian culture and cuisine, and public speaking for young women. Later, she taught in public schools and lectured in Ukrainian Language and the Department of Women's Services at the University of Saskatchewan, as well as ran outreach programs for Ukrainian immigrants. Moreover, she lectured throughout North America and in Western Ukraine (Polish Galicia) prior to its annexation by the Soviet Union in 1939....more
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