I’ve been searching for Iwaniw relatives online peertaining to my genealogy research. I have come across many people with the Iwaniw surname but, unfortunately, I haven’t come across anyone that is related to my family line. What I have found regarding that situation will be a blog post for another time.
As I stated I have been searching for relatives with the surname of Iwaniw with little luck. But if i look at the family tree I can see why. My father had 3 brothers and one sister. Well, his sister married and took on her husbands name, Marika Iwaniw became Marika Koval. Even though she had 3 children, none of them would have carried the last name of Iwaniw.
My farther’s oldest brother, Wasyl, had disappeared during the war and he was the reason I started my gemealogy research. I am not aware of any of his descendnents. So, taht is a temporary dead end. My father’s other brother, Mukola (Nicholas) has never contacted my father but I may have a lead on him from information I found through Anolsen Archives. But that is for another blog post.
Then there is my Uncle Ivan. I met him in when he came to visit. The actual year escapes me but it was some time in the 1970’s. He had 5 daughters. All would marry and none would carry on the Iwaniw name. Fast forward to this past January when I received a message my account on MyHeritage.com from someone names Julia. She was writing to me to find out if I had a picture of her great-grandfather, my Uncle Ivan. I come to find out that Julia is the granddaughter of my cousin, Olga, who is the daughter of my Uncle Ivan. So, now I have a connection to a relative in my father’s fmily line. And as a bonus, she is also interested in conducting her family research. She has helped in filling in the many gaps that I have in thqt line. My Uncle Ivan had 5 dughters and they are all still alive in Easter Ukraine.
Using information that Julia has provided, I have been able to connect with other descendents of my Uncle Ivan and build out the family tree. It was by sheer luck that I was able to connect and communicate with my 1st cousin twice removed. Due to the war in Eastern Ukraine I have not been able to connect or contact my cousin Olga except through Julia or her mother Svilana. who I also was able to connect with.,