Services in Ridgefield for Lily Bochonko, 92

Lily Bochonko, 92, of Woodside, Queens, NY, recently a resident of Laurel Ridge Health Care, passed away on the morning of Sunday, January 27, 2019.  Lily was the third child of immigrant parents, Paul and Katherine (Caryk) Baran, who owned a grocery store in Brooklyn, NY.  Throughout her life, Lily proudly embraced the Ukrainian heritage of her parents.  She was a parishioner of both Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church (Brooklyn, NY) and St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church (Riverhead, LI, NY).  

Lily lived in Woodside, Queens for most of her life and she spent many summers in Long Island in a house built by her father and brothers following WW 2. For many years she taught workshops in the art of Ukrainian Easter eggs (pysanky), and enjoyed traditional Ukrainian cross stitch and NY Times crossword puzzles (proudly completed in pen) until her eyesight started failing.  She was also an active member and past president of the Brooklyn Rotary Club, which, formed in 1914, nine years after the organization’s founding, was one of the first Rotary clubs established.

Lily received both a bachelor's degree in chemistry and a master’s degree from New York University.  She worked at Pfizer in Brooklyn, their headquarters, and was employed there during Pfizer’s early development of antibiotics.  She later taught science at Canarsie High School, in Brooklyn, for 30 years before retiring.

Lily was predeceased by her husband, Harold, and daughter, Katherine. She is survived by her daughter Paula Lockfort, son-in-law Steven, and grandchildren, Christopher Lockfort and Jennifer Lockfort. 

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday, January 31, 2019, at 10:15 am at St. Mary Church, 55 Catoonah Street, Ridgefield.  Following the funeral mass, interment will be in St. John’s Cemetery, 80-01 Metropolitan Avenue, Middle Village, Queens, NY, with a Ukrainian Catholic graveside prayer service at 1 pm.  Friends will be received on Wednesday, January 30, 2019 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Kane Funeral Home, 25 Catoonah Street, Ridgefield. 

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St Mary Church, whose ministry to the homebound was greatly appreciated by Lily, or a macular degeneration research organization of your choice.

R
Submitted by Ridgefield, CT

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