CHYCZIJ o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2008-02-12 published
SOLTYS,
Taras
Paul
Entrepreneur, father, son, brother, Orange Revolutionary. Born
December 24, 1955, in Toronto. Died October 18, 2007, in Toronto
of cancer, aged 51
By Alexandra
CHYCZIJ,
Page L8
In the 1970s, Taras knocked on our door and asked for my sister
Irene. Sensing a serious suitor, I proceeded to cross-examine
him, perhaps a little too aggressively for a first encounter.
He was born and raised in Toronto, the
son of Stephanie and Michael
SOLTYS and older brother of Dianne
WITIUK.
Taras survived my questioning, and soon he joined our weekly
ski excursions in Collingwood, Ontario On the ski slopes, Taras
initially made up in speed what he lacked in style. He developed
a passion for skiing that he shared with his children, Chrystyna
and Paul, who even persuaded him to try snowboarding.
When it came to children, Taras was a natural. He handled small
babies with the same ease with which he held a football.
Taras combined his love of kids with his constant quest for new
adventures by organizing a road trip across Ukraine with his
children and two of their cousins. Taras, with four teenagers
in tow, contended with everything from bears to kropyvo, a particularly
nasty stinging nettle.
Ukraine's independence made Taras a pioneer in early joint ventures,
equipped as he was with Canadian know-how and familiarity with
the Ukrainian language and culture.
He is remembered by his associates at Consumers-Sklo-Zorya, his
first venture in Ukraine, not only for the work ethic he instilled
in them but for introducing them to the concept of charitable
giving. The Charity Cash Cow Club he founded provided many low-income
families with a cow, which offered sustenance during the transition
from a Soviet economy.
Even though he often faced insurmountable odds, Taras never succumbed
to the temptation of taking the easy road by smoothing the way
with a little baksheesh. He was committed to the goal of ensuring
that democratic principles and the rule of law become firmly
entrenched in Ukraine.
Taras was an observer during the Orange Revolution, monitoring
all three rounds of the 2004 presidential elections in the Crimea,
an area he knew well from his most recent project in the oil
business.
As he battled cancer, we shared the poignant memory of standing
on Kiev's Independence Square singing Ukraine's national anthem
along with hundreds of thousands of others.
Taras's hopes and expectations for reform following the Orange
Revolution have yet to be fulfilled. But his greatest legacy
is his children. Whenever we see in Chrystyna and Paul a familiar
gentle smile or raised eyebrow, or hear a certain tone of voice
or laugh, it will remind us of the person we loved and will always
miss.
Alexandra CHYCZIJ is Taras's sister-in-law.
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