In Memory of Georgy Zhushma

Obituary

Georgy Antonovich Zhushma
Utica

Georgy Zhushma, or how he was fondly called ‘Yura,’ went home peacefully to be with his Lord and adored wife on Sunday, March 9, 2025, at 95 years old while surrounded by his children.

Yura was born on Sunday, May 5, 1929, in Belarus to Anton and Natalia (Samuylik) Zhushma who named him Georgy as he was born on the weekend of the Orthodox holiday celebrating St. George the Victorious.

As a young boy growing up during World War II, he was unable to complete education beyond 3 years of elementary school. Despite limited education, he was still an avid reader and a lifetime learner. Whenever you visited his home, his Bible and medicinal books were always laying opened on the table, and no visitor would leave his home without good advice about eternal life and health. To entertain his grandchildren, he enjoyed reciting all the poems he learned in childhood by memory until the very end.

Yura was a man who walked in the ways of the Lord. He accepted the Lord at the age of 14 and was baptized at the age of 15. He continued his dedication to the Lord by serving as a minister of the Homichevo Church (1972 - 1989) and nearby churches, where he led services like communion, blessing children, and mentoring the youth. Upon arriving to the USA, Yura was one of the few ministers at the Calvary Gospel Church and then was a devout member of the Slavic Pentecostal Church on Herkimer Road in Schuyler.

For 63 years of his life, Yura had the blessing of being married to the late Olga Dashkevich. The first time Yura noticed his future wife Olga was in school in 1940 when he was 11 and she was 9 years old. They got to know each other better during prayer services and they got married 14 years later in 1954. His beloved wife Olga passed away in 2018. Yura lived for 7 more years without his wife, talking about his ‘Galka’ every day.

The most remarkable attribute to Yura was his creative mind as he was known to be constantly building, fixing, and inventing. For instance, in 1960, Yura designed and built an original mold for making concrete well rings to enhance longevity of wells that supplied people of his town with fresh water. The molds were used by the entire town for many years and many such wells still serve people today.

In his birthplace, he was known to be a trailblazer for many ideas that helped rejuvenate multiple towns after World War II. At that time, he helped restore bridges after natural disasters, pioneered many improvements in local agriculture, and innovated technology to expedite rebuilding houses after the war. For example, in 1950's, when a typical roof at the time was constructed out of straw, he envisioned a more durable roof for his new home. He decided to design and build his own machine to manufacture shingles on site, which allowed neighboring towns to borrow and utilize the machine for new construction.

Yura and his two brothers Alexander and Mikhail had a lifetime of adventures. To make a living, they became one of the first photographers in Belarus to travel the country to photograph people at important events. While being devoted Christians, the brothers also played a vital role in aiding their young families to escape Communism. They petitioned the former Soviet Union government for 14 years to be allowed to flee from the republic of Belarus. After much resistance and harsh prosecution by the authorities due to their religious affiliation, they were granted permission to immigrate out of the Belarus in 1989. When they settled into Utica, Yura’s creativity continued to flourish with his beekeeping hobby. He nurtured many friends and family with his honey for years.

Yura was a loving, caring, and devoted husband, brother, father, grandfather, and a great grandfather. He was predeceased by his youngest sister Stepanida and his older half-siblings Anna, Ivan, and Sofia. He is survived by his brothers Mikhail (currently 98 years old) and Alexander (92), his 7 children Piotr, Nikolay, Vyacheslav, Galina, Lyubov, Mariya, Vasily and their spouses, in addition to 38 grandchildren and 63 great-grandchildren.

Specifically, his legacy is outlined as follows:

• Son Piotr Zhushma and wife Vera with their children Yelena (Gennady) Staskevich {Edward, Andrew, Ilysha}, Aleksandr (Yuliya) Zhushma {Diana, Daniel}, Svetozar (Nataliya) Zhushma {Anastasiya, Gabriel, Evangelina, Larisa}, Advin (Anna) Zhushma, Emily Zhushma
• Son Nikolay Zhushma and wife Tatyana with their children Vladimir (Elina) Zhushma {Adalia, Ariella, Maximus, Asher}, Alina (Alexander) Yakimovich {Gabriella, Amalia, Alexander, Anessa, Julius, Israel}, Vitaly (Angela) Zhushma {Vitaly Jr., Milana, Marcus, Elias, Zoya}, Arthur (Svetlana) Zhushma {Dahlia, Karina}, Rosa (Yaroslav) Savich {Hailey, Arianna}, Angelica Zhushma
• Son Vyacheslav Zhushma and wife Maria with their children Alex (Natalya) Zhushma {Evelyn, Allison, Jessica, Christina, Inessa}, George (Caitlin) Zhushma {Angelo}, Juliya (Mark) Verenich, Victoria Zhushma
• Daughter Galina and husband Vladimir Brutsky with their children Inna (Genadiy) Levkovets {Victoria, Angelina, Arianna, Liana, Izebella, David}, Dmitry Brutsky, Yury (Alena) Brutsky {Celine, Adaline, Luca}, Veniamin (Victoriya) Brutsky, Marina Brutsky, Veronika (Pavel) Tsikhanovich {Gloria}, Susana Brutsky
• Daughter Lyubov and husband Anatoliy Shum with their children Oleg (Alla) Shum {Isabella, Ezra, Aaron}, Olga (Vitaliy) Opanasevych {Aliana, Milana, Kamila}, Larisa (Peter) Pitsul {Lucas, Adeline}, Igor (Dina) Shum {Emily, Evelyn, Estelle}, Daniel Shum
• Daughter Mariya Vakulchik with children Yuliya (Mikhail) Gladchenko {Vasiliy, Vitaliy}, Olga Vakulchik, Lidiya (Mikhail) Brishchuk {Alexandria, Nathaniel, Samuel, Daniel, Ezekiel}, Svetlana (Sarat) Poluri {Augustus}, Alesya (Tihon) Chiliy
• Son Vasily Zhushma and wife Olga with children Victoria, Anton, David, Timothy

Church Funeral Service will be held on Friday, March 14, 2025 at 7:00PM at Slavic Pentecostal Church at 2191 NY-5, Utica, NY 13502. A wake for Family will be held at 5:00PM on the same day. Burial Service will be held on Saturday, March 15, 2025 at 9:00AM at Forest Hill Cemetery at 2201 Oneida St, Utica, NY 13501. 

Arrangements are with Friedel, Williams & Edmunds Funeral and Cremation Services, 13 Oxford Rd., New Hartford.

Online messages of sympathy may be left at: www.fwefh.com