When I lived in Goshen, Indiana, there were two Orthodox churches — Russian and Ukraine. I was aware of the churches and went to high school with students carrying Slavic names. Ivan Maximenko was on my tennis team. Boris Hanserenko played a great table tennis game. Their families were part of the community known as “displaced persons” after World War II. A friend to this day is Gene Havrilenko, a tennis buddy, who lived in Elkhart, Indiana. Gene’s family left Russia at the time of the war and were members of the Russian Orthodox Church in Goshen. The Church of the Brethren played an important part in the resettlement of refugees into our area.
© 2024 Roger Golden
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