David Peter Pankiw I was born and raised in Claymont, Delaware, a suburb of Wilmington. My childhood church was St. Mary’s Ukrainian Church in Chester, Pennsylvania. I was highly active in my church and served as an altar boy until my sophomore year in college. I was also involved in sports, playing both football and rugby in college, which consumed a significant amount of my time. All of my grandparents immigrated from Galicia between 1905 and 1910. My paternal grandfather, Wasyl Pankiw, immigrated from the Hrushiv, Galicia near Dorohobych and was one of the original members of Saint Mary’s. He contributed to the construction of the church and served as its financial secretary for a period. My maternal grandfather, Mykolaj Hapy, immigrated from Zavanytsya, Galicia. He entered the United States via Galveston, Texas, and worked as a coal miner in Alderson, Oklahoma, where he met my grandmother. Due to the advent of the automobile, the coal industry was hit hard, so my grandparents moved to Chester, Pennsylvania. During my early childhood, I attended Saturday Ukrainian School, where I learned the basics of the language. Our services were in both Ukrainian and English and I was able to understand even today, the service and hymns. My parents both spoke Ukrainian, but only spoke a little with us. I would ask my father to speak and teach me, but it would only last for a short time. I am not sure why? I am now learning again, and each day I practice. I also now have Rotary friends in Ukraine helping me. I am a graduate of Widener University, Chester PA with a degree in economics. I have also obtained a masters of science in financial planning which very few advisors have completed. I have many other designations after my graduation, I worked in Philadelphia then married and moved to Central PA, where there were no Ukrainians. My wife is Catholic and her family is from South Philly. Her father is Irish descent, but her mother is part Lithuanian/Russian descent. This has enabled my family to continue some traditions since we celebrate Easter and Christmas with traditional Ukrainian traditions and food. We decorate our tables with psyanky, babka, and all foods since my wife can make vareneky,, holubsti. All this even though we did not have any local Ukrainian connection. We still do this here in Florida. My business is in the investment Management/Financial Planning field, which I have been for 35 years. I have an office here in Venice, Florida and Philadelphia, PA and now Maine since my partner has his family located there. My wife Kelley is a realtor with Keller Williams Venice Island, and is one of their top producers. We live in IslandWalk since January 2018. We have two children Kristen who lives in Frederick, Maryland. She is an artist/writer. Her poetry has been featured in the MD WV area where she has won accolades for her works, which she has published. Her art is now featured in the Washington DC area and online where she has posted that she is Ukrainian. My son lives in the Los Angeles, Hollywood, and does film editing/photography. He is still trying to find a direction in life, he is still young. Locally, I am involved in the Rotary club of Venice as the vice president. I have been in Rotary for 30 years this year! I am a past president of rotary in Pennsylvania, Asst Governor for three years and Chair of the Short Term Youth Exchange. I am also on the city of Northport Economic Development Committee responsible for bringing jobs and growth to our area. Because of my involvement in rotary youth exchange (over 20 years), I have reached out to rotary in Ukraine. Last week I was featured speaker for the rotary E club, Ukraine and Saturday I was a speaker for rotary Ukraine district in Western, Ukraine, for all clubs. This Saturday I will be speaking with Rotary president of Ukraine, unity and in March I am the speaker for Rotary of Lviv. Rotary is relatively new in some areas and they are looking for help with programs. My goal is to help them and plan exchanges not only with Youth but also between adults via Rotary. They are very excited about our area and the Ukrainian community. I have also connected with Irina with revived soldiers in Ukraine (based in Orlando, FL) and in Lviv, to do events and fundraising for this cause. I was and still am proud of my heritage and background that I have passed to my children, even though we were distant from our heritage. I remember my experience as an altar boy and church. My grandparents lunch/dinner on Sundays after church. When they passed, every Sunday, we would visit their graves, clean them, and say our prayers. My memories have taught me respect for people and family and heritage, which I have passed down to my children. While I have been away from my heritage connections and may not be the perfect mold of someone that grew up Ukrainian, I am Ukrainian and proud of my heritage. I am looking to reconnect and I'm confident that I can be an asset to our local community. Sincerely, David Pankiw Home