Theodore (Fred) Stetsko

Theodore (Fred) Stetsko

A biography of ULFTA/AUUC member Fred Stetsko, who took a very active role in the operations of the organization.

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Vancouver, BC

1904

Drohobytskaya region of Ukraine

April 20th, 1986

Fred Stetsko was born on the 4th of March, 1904 in the Drohobytskaya region of Western Ukraine. Fred immigrated to Canada in 1928 and traveled the country looking for work. He finally settled in Edmonton, Alberta, where he found work as a janitor in an apartment building. While still living in Ukraine he showed great interest in the socialist movement, so upon arrival in Canada he joined the ULFTA. At the start of World War II the Canadian government closed the Ukrainian Labour Temples but Fred continued to support and help the underground movement that arose.

Fred moved from Edmonton to Vancouver where he enlisted in the army. He served in the major part of the war in England. At the end of the war Fred returned to Vancouver where he continued his activities with the AUUC. Fred worked in the building trades working on the Kitimat-Kemano electrical station until he retired. Fred was a very pleasant, quiet, and knowledgeable person who remained loyal to the progressive movement all his life. He took part in many of the activities of the AUUC. He helped Ivan Dubno (secretary of the Provincial Committee of the AUUC) show films at the Ukrainian Hall. He helped at the Labour Temple library and encouraged people to subscribe to the Life and Word newspaper. Fred Stetsko passed away in the Shaughnessy Veteran's Hospital in Vancouver on April 20th, 1986.