Roman T. Bohayets age 87, of Auburn, died Monday, February 8, at Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, Massachusetts.
Roman was born on October 18, 1928 in Kolomyia, Ukraine to Theophil and Stephania Bohayets. He attended grade school and some high school in the Ukraine before he was taken from his family and forced into a Nazi labor camp at the age of 16. After the war ended, he lived for over a year in a D P camp in Linz, Austria. Believing his family perished in the war, he was brought to the United States in 1946, just before he turned 18, as a war orphan. He lived in a Ukrainian Catholic Seminary in Stamford, Connecticut for a short time until he was brought to Auburn in 1947 by Rev Basil Ostas, pastor of SS Peter & Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church - where he was a proud member for the rest of his life.
He worked at the Barr Shoe Company for 3 years until he was drafted by the US Army, assigned to the 4th Infantry Division, and stationed in Frankfurt, Germany. He was honorably discharged in 1952, earned his GED the same year, and then began studying industrial engineering at Syracuse University. He worked for the Columbian Rope Company until its relocation in the late 1970s and eventually retired from Bo-Mer Plastics Company in 1994.
Roman became a citizen of the United States on May 3, 1954. He married Judith Ogden of Weedsport in 1966 with whom he had 2 daughters. They separated in 1978 but remained life-long friends. Around 1974, Roman learned through a miraculous communication between his brother in Ukraine and a friend's cousin living in Washington DC that he was not an orphan and that most of his family had survived the war and were alive and well in Ukraine. He travelled with Judi to the Ukraine during the Cold War in the summer of 1975 and was reunited with his 83 year old father, younger brother, and sister after a 30 year separation.
Roman enjoyed over 20 years of retirement. He travelled to Ukraine several times and hosted relatives here in the US. In his youth he was a student pilot, played golf and bowled in a league every Sunday night. He loved reading and solving the daily crossword puzzle. He was an avid stamp collector and gardener, creating a beautiful park-like garden in his back yard on Pulsifer Drive – where he lived for over 50 years. His garden attracted many variety of birds and various other wildlife. He lived in his home in Auburn until the last three months of his life when he relocated with his daughter and her family in Northfield, Massachusetts.
Roman is survived by his daughter and son-in-law Melissa and Shawn Foster of Northfield, MA grandchildren Ethan, age 16, and Natalie, age 14, several nieces and nephews, and many other family and friends. He was predeceased by his daughter Stephanie, his parents, brother Olexander, and sister Iryna.
Funeral services will be at 9A.M. Monday, February 15, from the Plis Funeral Home, and 9:30 A.M. in SS Peter & Paul Church. Burial will be in Weedsport Rural Cemetery at the convenience of the family. Friends are invited to call Sunday from 2 to 5 P.M. at the funeral home, 220 State St.
Contributions can be made to SS Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church, 132 Washington Street, Auburn NY 13021 or CARE Humanitarian Aid Company www.care.org.


Read Roman Bohayets's Obituary and Guestbook on www.plisfuneralhome.com.

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