Alex A. Wishlow, 91 (1930-2022), Creston, BC

We gladly send our sincere condolences to the wider Wishlow family in the passing of a memorable personality. Alex was a creative teacher for 37 years, and one of the first Doukhobors to adopt computer technology in his courses. He passionately worked to promote multiculturalism as the way to tolerance and understanding of others.

Alex chaired the Canadian Doukhobor Society (CDS) for many years and persistently reminded its members to be a great example to others. As part of a 65-member 1995 'Voices for Peace Choir' that went international, he actively promoted peace and nonkilling as the way to our future. Alex will be missed. May he rest in peace.

Creston’s Larry Ewashen and Alex Wishlow attend Castlegar unveiling of historic Doukhobor plaques, Creston Valley Advance, October 18, 2012 — Peter V. Verigin was declared a Person of National Historic Significance, and the migration of the Doukhobors from Saskatchewan to British Columbia an event of National Historic Significance.


Read my biography (above) of Alex titled: 'Educator in the Interior of British Columbia' from Koozma J. Tarasoff, Spirit Wrestlers: Doukhobor Pioneers' Strategies for Living (2002): 105-106.

In 2014, Alex addressed a meeting held at the Doukhobor Discovery Centre (photo above)

See his Facebook page with a family photos

Alex's obituary at G.F. Oliver Funeral Chapel is simple: 
Donate to the Doukhobor Discovery Centre in his memory.

John E. Atamanenko, 91 (1930-2022), Saskatoon, SK

Left: Spirit Wrestlers, 2002, page 310.
Center: Obituary, Dignity Memorial, 2022.
Right: DSS Christmas Meeting, Saskatoon, 2018.

John and I are close in age and have known each other for many years. I was Best Man at his wedding. We worked together building bridges of understanding between the East and the West, and getting to know the stranger.

• We promoted cultural tours to the Soviet Union as well as joint business ventures.
• In 1988, John raised funds for Vakhit V. Sharipov of Kazan, and myself to come to Saskatoon to meet Doukhobor Canadians.
• There were many times that John generously helped with accommodation and travel related to East-West exchanges. In the 1980s, as van drivers and organizers, John and Koozma escorted a western Canada tour of Soviet poets to Alberta and British Columbia.
• We promoted the distribution of Russian films and videos to Canadians.

That ancient wisdom is dearly needed today between the Russian Federation and the West. The welfare of the world depends on this understanding so that we can build trust to mutually work towards a peaceful world. Is anyone listening? As a generous man, John will be missed. Sincere condolences to the wider family.

In 1976 he was mentioned in his ag newsletter:

John Atamanenko '54 is now Manager of The Carpet Warehouse in Saskatoon. He has just built a new store and would be glad to have you drop in. (Saskatchewan Agricultural Graduates Association Newsletter, No 145, December 1976, page 4, col. 2)

In 2002, I included this short biography and photo (above) in my big book: Spirit Wrestlers: Doukhobor Pioneers' Strategies for Living (2002), page 310.

John E. Atamanenko, an agronomist by training, has worked variously as an owner of a carpet store, a bingo hall, and as a farmer. An active proponent of EastWest cultural exchanges, he is best known as founder of the Saskatoon Russian Cultural Club. The Club has promoted the use of Russian language, assisted the Russian Pavilion in town, has shown Russian movies, and has arranged for the visit to Canada of Soviet artists, students, professional and business people. His cousin Alex Atamanenko, in Castlegar, BC, is an international Russian-English interpreter, educator, and karate instructor, while Alex's brother George Atamanenko is an agricultural expert in Vancouver.

In 2003 John helped launch a project to conserve and promote an area north of Saskatoon near Blaine Lake, where he was raised. They formed the Riverlands Heritage Region project committee, ‘to preserve the historical contributions of Russian peoples who settled on the Canadian prairies over a century ago.’ By 2007 he served as president and treasurer and helped write a progress report about the project: Riverlands Heritage Region Formed in Saskatchewan. In 2015 the tour map (above) was published, titled 'Petrofka to Wingard'. By 2017 the new Riverlands website presented a virtual tour, maps, and video.

More of John’s active biography can be seen in his Obituary in The StarPhoenix, Saskatoon, and at Dignity Memorial Funeral Home.

Plant a tree in his memory.

Jim D. Kolesnikoff (1936–2021)

Jim D. Kolesnikoff, a stalwart of the Doukhobor Movement, died in Hamilton, Ontario on June 29, 2021, remarkably on the exact date of the Doukhobor Arms Burning in Russia 126 years ago. 

Three important historical occasions brought Jim and myself together.

1. 1957 — December. At the all-Doukhobor youth conference: ‘Building bridges of understanding’. Jim was one of the hosts. The Saskatoon Doukhobor Students’ Group initiated meetings with Community Doukhobor students in British Columbia to jointly discuss ‘Where do we go from here?’ Jim is seated on the right end in this group photo. (See: ‘Young Adult Tour of Western Canada’, The Inquirer, December 1957, pages 8-12.)
   
   
2. 1982 — June 25-28. During the International Intergroup Symposium that brought together over 1,000 Doukhobors, Mennonites, Quakers, and American Spiritual Christians from Russia, to Castlegar, BC. Jim served as Secretary of the Convening Committee of four (Jim Kolesnikoff, John J. Verigin Sr., Jim E. Popoff, and me Koozma J. Tarasoff as Coordinator) and signed a letter to the United Nations.
   
   
3. 1999 — October 22-24. At the Doukhobor Centenary in Canada conference held at Ottawa University, Jim presented: ‘Understanding violent behaviour: the “Sons of Freedom” case’, published in Doukhobor Centenary in Canada (edited by Andrew Donskov, John Woodsworth and Chad Gaffield), 2000, pages 114-128.

These events brought Canadian Doukhobors together to focus on examining our identity in the new world today.

• ‘Who are we?’
• ‘What contribution can we make to world society?’ 

That’s how I knew Jim.

Jim was born in Watson, Saskatchewan. His family moved to British Columbia where he graduated from high school in 1954. For several years he worked for the Sunshine Valley Co-op and the Grand Forks Credit Union and was an active member of the USCC Union of Youth in a program of singing, the Russian language evening school program and Iskra.  

In the 1960s, Jim attended Moscow State University where he received his MA in Russian language and literature, returned to Canada, and in 1978 obtained his PhD in Slavic Linguistics at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.

A big event in Jim’s life was meeting Nina, a Polish student on scholarship in Moscow. They married in 1968 and moved to Canada the same year. They lived in Edmonton, Alberta where Nina completed her PhD studies in the Department of Comparative Literature. The couple moved to Hamiliton, Ontario where Nina became a professor of Slavic Studies at McMaster University. Jim commuted to Toronto where he worked with a company (dissolved in 2002) importing precious and semi-precious metals, and jewelry from Russia to Canada.

In 2002 I published a short biography of Jim and his wife: ‘Slavic Scholars Broaden International Boundaries’, Spirit Wrestlers: Doukhobor Pioneers’ Strategies for Living (2002), pages 232-233. (PDF, 1.3 Mb)

Jim was interviewed by Gregory James Cran for his doctoral thesis: 'A Narrative Inquiry into the Discourse of Conflict among the Doukhobors and Between the Doukhobors and Government', University of Victoria, 2003, pages 105, 128, and 200. (PDF, 5 Mb). The thesis was modified into a book published in 2011 titled: Negotiating Buck Naked: Doukhobors, Public Policy, and Conflict Resolution, where Jim is quoted on page 81. (See my book review.)

Published Obituaries for James (Jim) Kolesnikoff

• Iskra, No. 2166, September 2021, pages 35-38. Bilingual Russian and English.
• Grand Forks Gazette, (photo) June 12, 2021. Photo 
• Today in BC, Black Press Media (Surrey, B.C.) June 12, 2021