Stephanie's Bio
Stephanie Sydoriak was born in 1926 of Ukrainian immigrant parents in Boston, Massachusetts. Her undergraduate degree was in physics from Northeastern University. She continued graduate studies at Yale, but left before obtaining her masters degree when her husband finished his PhD. They moved to Los Alamos, New Mexico in 1948 where they brought up six children. Throughout her life in Los Alamos, she followed her father's exhortation to remember her Ukrainian background. Neighborhood children learned how to make Ukrainian Easter Eggs at her dining room table. Later she was often invited to demonstrate Ukrainian dance and the art of egg decorating in the local schools and various organizations. She produced many explanatory exhibits of Ukrainian art for local libraries and senior centers: eggs, embroideries, carvings and food.
In the early years in Los Alamos, she translated Russian, German and French scientific papers for the laboratory and then for a professional translating service in New York. When her family had grown, she became certified as a piano teacher and then spent thirty years in that profession. In 1995, she became President of the New Mexico Music Teachers Association, and received the rare award of Life Member.
Stephanie was a Liturgy Chairman as well as a choir director in her church for many years. She published a book of her poetry titled Inside Passage in 2002. When composer Craig Russell was commissioned to write a choral piece for the Santa Fe Women's Ensemble, he chose poems from that book for a work called "Four Seasonal Dances." It was debuted by the Ensemble in March of 2005. In recognition of her service to Los Alamos, she was named a Los Alamos Living Treasure of 2011. In 2012 her book An Ocean Between: 100% American-100% Ukrainian was published.
In the early years in Los Alamos, she translated Russian, German and French scientific papers for the laboratory and then for a professional translating service in New York. When her family had grown, she became certified as a piano teacher and then spent thirty years in that profession. In 1995, she became President of the New Mexico Music Teachers Association, and received the rare award of Life Member.
Stephanie was a Liturgy Chairman as well as a choir director in her church for many years. She published a book of her poetry titled Inside Passage in 2002. When composer Craig Russell was commissioned to write a choral piece for the Santa Fe Women's Ensemble, he chose poems from that book for a work called "Four Seasonal Dances." It was debuted by the Ensemble in March of 2005. In recognition of her service to Los Alamos, she was named a Los Alamos Living Treasure of 2011. In 2012 her book An Ocean Between: 100% American-100% Ukrainian was published.