Memorable Manitobans: Victor Deneka (1921-2010)

Architect.

Born in Samarkand (now Uzbekistan) on 25 June 1921, his secondary education took place in Western Ukraine and the State Grammar School at Cholm, Western Ukraine. He studied architecture at the Technical University of Carolo-Wilhelmina at Brunswick, Germany as a result of a scholarship awarded by the British military government for the British Zone of Germany. After immigrating to Canada with his parents and brother in 1949, he attended the University of Manitoba and obtained a Bachelor of Architecture in 1952. He was a member of the Manitoba Association of Architects and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. He was the regional architect for the Prairie Region of the Canadian National Railways and he also designed buildings in private practice, specializing in Ukrainian Catholic churches.

He helped to organize congresses that led to the creation of the student organizations Obnova and Ukrainian Canadian University Students’ Union. He served as President of the Obnova Alumni Society, President of the Archeparchial Executive of the Ukrainian Catholic Brotherhood of Canada, President of the Ukrainian Catholic Council of the Winnipeg Archeparchy, National President of the Ukrainian Catholic Council of Canada, and an honorary director of the Catholic Foundation of Manitoba. He was a member of the Board of Directors for the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko, a member of the Ukrainian Professional and Business Club of Winnipeg, Secretary of the Ukrainian Literary and Arts Club of Winnipeg, and President of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences. In recognition of his community service, he was inducted into the Order of St. Gregory the Great (1983) and the Order of St. Vladimir the Great.

He died at Winnipeg on 3 April 2010 and was buried in All Saints Cemetery. His papers were deposited in the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections.

Some of his architectural works in Manitoba included:

Building

Location

Year

Status

Consistory Building, Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy

Winnipeg

?

 

Plast Ukrainian Youth Association Building

Winnipeg

?

 

Ukrainian Fraternal Society of Canada Building

Winnipeg

?

 

Christ the King Ukrainian Catholic Church [renovation]

Logan Avenue, Winnipeg

1950

 

Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church

965 Boyd Avenue, Winnipeg

1961-1962

 

St. Basil the Great Ukrainian Catholic Church

202 Harcourt Street, Winnipeg

1963

 

Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church

319 Sixth Street, Beausejour

1964

 

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church

Russell, Municipality of Russell-Binscarth

1965

 

Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church

78 First Street, The Pas

1972

 

Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

First Street NW, Portage la Prairie

1982

 

St. Anne’s Ukrainian Catholic Church

35 Marcie Street, Winnipeg

1984

 

St. Vladimir’s College Gymnasium

Roblin, Municipality of Roblin

1986

 

Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Resurrection

801 Jackson Street, Dauphin

1990

 

Sources:

Fifty Steps Forward - The 50th Anniversary of St. Vladimir’s College, 1991, page 178.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 6 April 2010.

We thank Frances Kasper, Gloria Romaniuk, and George Penner for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 5 August 2019

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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