Pembroke High School - Crossroads Yearbook (Corfu, NY)

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Ruih Kulgk Ruth aboard the Queen Elizabeth II withufriends. 1956 Amish Country, Pennsylvania, Sprifng 198491! . ',- Lu 0 V l6 1L8 1964 V, . a : 1462,, A . . . . MMIM :73 7C 859$ , V . . - V V V W V H1 A R w u . g MKIW L, V, V U V ; Oktoberfest, Pembroke HIgh School, fall of 1984 , wk? 2 WW I .V w , 'v Na: K x545 N m ' p R n A w b p m M 1 w g 0 k I k 1V ax a 1' $1 JV

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CROSSROADQ Pembroke Jr. Sr. High School R+s. 5 and 77 Corfu, NY 14036

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Ruth Ann Lohde was born on July 30, 1930 in Berlin, Germany, the second daughter of Friedrich and Clara Lohde. She lived with her sister Eva and her parents in an apartment building at 95 Hassenheide Strasse, next to a large park. Many of her carefree childhood days were spent in that park, playing under the willow trees. Of course, the war came and life for many Germans, including Ruth, changed dramatically. Consumer goods were ration- ed, friends and neighbors were going off to war, night-time air raids were commonplace, and in 1945, Ruth and her family lost everything when their home was destroyed. They eventually resettled in West Germany, where she lived with her sister Eva and her family. It was in these post-war years when she first met Alex Kulyk, a refugee who fought in the Ukranian underground. Someday, in another land, she would become Mrs. Alexander Kulyk. In 1948, Ruth moved to England to find a better job and to go to college. She enrolled in Cambridge University and went to work as a nanny in the home of opera great, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf. During her years there, she had the opportunity to meet some of the world's greatest performing artists. . In 1956, two significant events happened to change Ruthls life. First came the news that her mother Clara had passed away. Soon thereafter, Alex sent a letter that said tlcome to America and be with me. tAlex had moved to the United States five years earlierJ So, on December 1, 1956 Ruth stepped aboard the Queen Elizabeth II to begin her voyage towards her new life in the United States. t On February 2, 1957, Ruth and Alex Kulyk were wed in Buffalo, and they settled in their home in the city. Later that year, ' their first son, Andrew, was born. In 1963, Ruth had another son, Taras. A new job as a school teacher in her parish's elementary school prompted Ruth to begin studying for a four-year college degree in 1965. It took eight years of taking care of a husband, two boys, a full-time job, and going to night school; but in May of 1973, she graduated from Medaille College at the top of her class with a magna cum laude degree. Ten months later, she began her new teaching career at Pembroke Central School. At Pembroke, Ruth has been both a German teacher and an English teacher. In her capacity as German teacher, Ruth has devoted hundreds of hours as German Club advisor working with the students on car washes, Christmas caroling at the Nursing Home, hosting monthly movies at the Intermediate School, sponsoring yearly Oktoberfests, and taking the students to the Amish country. Ruth has been active in the German exchange program to Dortmund, Germany. Also, over the years, Ruth has been a team leader and participated in the school musical. Because of all the time and effort given by this special woman to Pembroke High School, it is with great pleasure that the 1985 Crossroads Yearbook be dedicated to Ruth Kulyk. l