The End of an Era

My father passed away December 11, 2014.  Below is his obituary.

Walter Kuzyk, 98, of Philadelphia

Walter Kuzyk was born on June 6, 1916 to Walter and Maria Kuzyk in the town of Przemyśl on the
border between Poland and Ukraine during the peak of World War I.  Walter, his sister Lydia and his parents moved around the Galicia region until they took residence in Lviv, which is now in Ukraine.

Soon after, Ukraine fell under control of the Soviet Union.  Living in the city, they avoided the artificial famine imposed by Stalin that took as many as 7.5 million lives, but, were later caught on the battle lines of World War II.  Walter's father, a lawyer and a judge, fled from Ukraine in 1941 to escape the NKVD ’s purge of the Ukrainian Intelligentsia prior to the German invasion.  Walter was arrested as punishment for his father's departure.  In response to the imminent fall of Lviv to the Nazis, the NKVD hastily executed its political prisoners.   Walter escaped the midnight firing squad when freed by an officer who recognized him as a musician from the local dance hall.  His fiancée, Irene Bernakiewicz, was also detained for several days by the NKVD, where she was coerced into becoming an informant against her parents, who were both teachers (and her father a principal), to insure that they were loyal Soviet citizens, indoctrinating their students with approved dogma.

These events forced Walter and Irene to flee to Germany through the advancing Nazi front, using their high-school documents -- which featured a Polish eagle that resembled the German coat of arms, to fool the German border guards.  Through a network of friends, they located Walter's father, who had gained employment in Germany as a supply clerk, using his fluent German to convince the local authorities that he was a native.  Walter and Irene were married soon after they arrived.

Walter's father hid the young couple in his small apartment for the duration of the war.   Since necessities were rationed, and Walter Sr. could barely support himself, they gathered weeds under the cover of night to supplement their paltry food supply.  After the war, Soviet rule over Ukraine was restored, making it unsafe for Walter and Irene to return.  They were sponsored by a Ukrainian friend with US citizenship to immigrate to the US in 1949.  Walter's father’s application to the US was rejected, so he immigrated to Australia.

Walter's Master’s Degree in engineering and Irene's degree in Pharmacy from Ukraine were not recognized in the United states, so they worked outside of their professions, taking multiple jobs as custodians, dry cleaners, and assembly line workers until Walter eventually secured a job as a draftsman with Westinghouse.   In 1958, their son Mark was born.

While at Westinghouse, Walter attended the civilian division of Pennsylvania  Military College in Chester, PA, where he earned a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1965.  At age 50, he landed his first engineering job at the Philadelphia Naval Base, and remained with the civil service until his retirement in 1987.  Throughout his life, he was active in the Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church in Chester, PA, where he sang in the choir and served as cantor.

After his wife Irene passed away in 1990, he moved to Philadelphia so that he could immerse himself in the vibrant Ukrainian community.  Until he suffered a stroke in 2013, he volunteered at the Ukrainian Center, where he served senior meals, worked at the library, and interacted with his lifelong friends.  He enjoyed his independence, regularly attending operas at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia and driving to Cape May to enjoy the beach.  While he was frugal, he generously sponsored poor students in  Ukraine, supported organizations such as Children of Chernobyl, and lavishly indulged his grandchildren.  Walter was known for his extravagant devotion to his family, his appreciation to the US for giving him the opportunity to live in freedom and prosperity, and for the pride he took in the rich culture of his Ukrainian heritage.  He passed away on December 11, 2014, after having lunch in the company of friends.

The funeral liturgy in the full Ukrainian tradition was celebrated at St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church in Jenkintown, PA, on the morning of December 17.  He was laid to rest at Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery in Delaware County.   He is survived by his son Mark, daughter-in-law Patricia, grandchildren Mark Kuzyk and Alexandra Brune, Lexa’s husband Stan Brune, and great grandson Jack Sawyer Brune.

April 10, 2013

"You better come right away," said the voice over the phone.

My statistical mechanics class was meeting in an hour, so I was reviewing my notes. It took a moment for those words to come into focus as my mind crept out of those deep recesses where physics lives and thrives.

I knew that my father had been hospitalized for a couple days for a severe headache and nausea, but this was nothing new.  He occasionally would visit the ER for one thing or another, but it always ended up being benign; such as falling from a dizzy spell caused by dehydration (he never liked to drink water).  He seemed invincible.  Though he was just a couple months shy of his 97th birthday, he was still serving lunch to seniors at the Ukrainian Center, driving his own car, and being aware of the price of gas at every nearby station.

I never pictured it ending this way.

The rest of the morning is a blur.  Somehow, I called my wife and my two grown children to give them the news and booked plane tickets for the next morning.  We flew from three different airports, converged in Salt Lake City and were on the plane together to Philadelphia.

I decided to teach that morning. Physics always has a calming influence. It is difficult to explain to others who do not share in this passion how physics brings deep satisfaction and even comfort. The beauty of the narrative of nature as expressed by equations.  We are surrounded by order that can be quantified and explained, encompassing all in a grand embrace.  Puzzles today are like the excitement in the novelty of a new relationship. As one puzzle is solved another one takes its place, like a spouse that never ceases to amaze and delight. Always there; rock solid, and reliable with predictable unpredictability.

That one-hour class went by quickly.  Thoughts of my father persisted, but was calm and secure as a child shielded by her parents.

The previous weekend I had devoted a few hours to calculating the wave functions of a many-particle quantum system in terms of the single particle wave functions.  This calculation is not novel and appears in many textbooks; but, I never understand anything well unless I calculate it for myself.  I transcribed my notes into a LaTeX file (a scientific typesetting program) for my records.  Below is a screen capture of part of the document's first page.

I printed a handout for my group and preapred a Power Point version for a group meeting that was to be held at 3:00 pm that surreal day.

Lively discussions prolonged the one-hour talk to two hours -- my physics-induced euphoria amplified many-fold by their participation.  I still remember this group meeting fondly though a darkness hovered in the periphery.

I had lots to prepare.  Packing was the least of my worries.  The doctor had asked about my father's living will; a concept never taken seriously by my father. The responsibility of my power of attorney over his well-being weighed heavily on me.  I wanted to make the right decision.  I needed to get into his head.

Though my father has a grumpy demeanor, I know that he enjoys life -- complaining, one of his pleasures. Just a week before his stroke, a retired social worker at the Ukrainian Center witnessed one of his dizzy spells and confiscated his car keys.  He called me every day to complain and asked over and over how he would get around without his car.  Having mobility is still very important to him.  So, having the hope of returning to at least a semi-independent lifestyle was important.  During that trip back east, I played over and over again the conversation I would have with his doctors.

When we arrived in his hospital room, he was a gray bag of jelly; not just tiny psychically but drained of life.  He had always been energetic, detesting inertia, wielding strength.  Here was a meek and helpless being, attached to beeping machines and tubes.  In that first minute, tears flowed like huge rivers from the eyes of my wife, daughter, and even my son, who rarely shows emotion.  I don't recall my son ever shedding a tear, even as a child.  I held it in.  I had to be strong and keep a clear head for my discussions with the doctors.

My daughter stared up at me through her tears, disapprovingly, "why aren't you shedding even one tear?" She is so much like my mother, who passed away 23 years ago, seeing me through those same eyes.  My mother would have said the same thing.

The nurses kept on shaking my father, trying to bring back consciousness, but unsuccessfully.  The prognoses for someone his age with a stroke is not great, they told me, but we should still try to stimulate him.

He always loved music, so we played a medley on our phones.

He perked up.  His eyes were closed but you could tell from the tension in his brow that he was listening.  Someone was in there.

I sang my rendition of the Ukrainian National Anthem.  I could see him paying attention.  His head tilted slightly and he opened his eyes, which stared blankly without focus.  He was clearly listening. I continued to sing with greater vigor.

When I reached the end of the Anthem, his head fell gently back to the pillow, turning his head to me, his eyes still de-focused and glazed over.  He inhaled heavily, crumpled his face as if smelling a putrid odor, and said firmly, "You STILL don't know the lyrics,"  making clear his disdain for my imperfection.  I was giggling.

He was always angry with me for not embracing his love for everything Ukrainian, and this was always a sore topic that I tried to avoid.  Now, his wrath was welcome.  He was back.  Over the next three days, he continued to improve and was almost his old self, but with the need for physical therapy to build his muscles after two weeks of being in bed.

I visited him again when he was moved from the hospital to a nursing home for rehab.  He hated the place, with the loud synthesizer music alarm blaring each time he tried to stand up.  It is understandable that the precaution is necessary for his own protection when one-on-one attention is not possible.  Nevertheless, he felt like a prisoner and resented being restricted to his room most of the day and forbidden to walk.

The first day I visited him in rehab, he seemed much better than at the hospital.  At times he was tired and slept, at other times, he talked about all sorts of things, fully aware of the fact that he had had a stroke.  Below is a photo of my father in the back garden of the nursing home.

I found the nursing home depressing -- lucid individuals with fragile bodies waiting to expire, surrounded by others with a variety of aliments including not-so-old residents with advanced dementia, staring blankly into space, others screaming in terror for no apparent reason.  The nurses, doctors, and medical professionals are very good.  The head nurse spent lots of time with me reviewing the details about my father's condition and what to expect.  It was the atmosphere that made me desperately want to extract my father from that horrible place, but he needed therapy to regain some weight and physical strength. A few weeks ago, he was finally out.  I even saw him walking with a cane on Skype!

I'm heading back to Philadelphia to bring my father to Pullman for my daughter's wedding.  She was deeply traumatized by his illness and the frailty that had conquered his invincibility.  She knew that her marriage was very meaningful to him as it is to her, so she and her fiance accelerated their wedding plans so that he could be included while still lucid and gaining enough vigor to travel.

To our delight, my father is looking forward to the wedding and talks about it every time I call him.  Now we are agonizing about whether we should keep him in Pullman or return him to Philly after the wedding.

It's difficult to decide what is best for him.  He still has a life with his friends.  He goes to the Ukrainian center twice a week for the senior lunch, where he chats with his friends.  On Sundays, he goes to a Ukrainian church.  In Pullman he has us, but we are pessimistic about being able to keep him at our home.  We have lots of stairs and have to be at work during the day to teach.  There are no Ukrainian speaking people we could hire to sit with him when we are away, and he is so stubborn, refusing to speak English, which he spoke his whole working life. 

In Pullman, he has us, and we could have him over for dinner every day and take him out on weekends.  And, we are his family.  In Philadelphia, he has a Ukrainian couple watch him while his caretaker is at work and is somewhat of a celebrity with his friends.  He can talk about the good old days and be assured of a choir of amens.  We, on the other hand, need to work evenings so don't have the luxury of lounging around in idle chatter.

My immediate concern is my ability to care for him during his stay in Pullman.  He has several medical conditions that a non-medical person such as I view with great trepidation.  Then there are the logistics.  What if he gets fatigued at the time of the wedding and we can't wake him to the ceremony?  What if he gets sick on the plane?

By writing now, I am procrastinating.  The wedding is in a week and I am at Salt Lake City waiting for my flight to Philly. My final report is due on a grant and 3 dissertations await my reading, all due in a week! But, with all the stress, writing about it seems to release some pressure.

As usual, the occasional calculation with pen and pencil takes me to my own cozy corner, like chatting with an old friend at a fireplace sipping on a hot beverage.  And reading theses, while time consuming, can also be rewarding, especially when I can see how far the students have come and all the fine work that was generated by our collective minds.  The excitement of the work, the upcoming wedding, and my father's visit all are events to celebrate.  The happiness is peppered with concerns about how my decisions will affect my father's long-term well-being.  And more immediately, will I be able to handle the challenges before me over the next week.

I am about to board, and plan to spend the 4+ hours on the plane working.

 Gotta catch my plane...

A silver lining

We have been visiting with family in the Philadelphia area. What should have been a fun time has been colored with tension and anxiety. First, there is the issue of what to do with my 95-year-old father.

He is highly independent, living on his own, cooking for himself, and competently driving a car. He and his buddies (all younger than him) occasionally drive to Cape May - a Victorian beach town. Also, he volunteers twice a week to work at the senior lunch, collecting the $1.50 cost of the meal, and making sure that the books are balanced. He even helps deliver food to the eighty-year olds with walkers.

Ten years ago, we built an addition to our home for my father. He refused to move in. I don't blame him. He has friends and activities to keep him busy. He participates in all sorts of events at the Ukrainian church and the Ukrainian Center. Pullman, on the other hand, has zero Ukrainians for him to befriend. Though we are there for him, work is a large part of our days, so he would be bored to death most of the time. In Philly, he is an active part of his microcommunity participating in his ethnic culture that he cherishes.

My father is concerned that his driver's license will not be renewed, rendering his present lifestyle impossible. We are also concerned that as he ages, he will become less independent. Our agonizing decision comes down to a choice between him continuing to live alone with the chance that he may injure himself, but otherwise a happy life; or, moving him to Pullman, and dooming him to certain misery. In my mind, both choices are far from ideal.

The other day, my father fell as a result of a dizzy spell. He was bruised but otherwise seemed unharmed. However, it was painful for him to walk, and his nurse (who visits him occasionally at home for blood tests), recommended that he get an X-ray to rule out a fractured hip. Fortunately, we had made plans to have lunch with good friends from Yardley. After lunch, John - an orthopedic surgeon, and his wife Camille - a physical therapist, checked my father's injuries and ordered X-rays as a precaution. The local hospital quickly determined that he had not sustained serious injury.

This whole process reminded us of my father's situation and the painful decisions ahead. Unfortunately, every option other than the status quo is unacceptable to him: No to senior living homes, no to roommates, no to moving to Pullman, etc. For now, we are making arrangements to simplify his daily routine, but some day, we will need to bring him to Pullman, kicking and screaming.

We have been driving extensively to get between my fathers place, and the various in-laws. As a result, I have been feeling depressed and anxious about not having time to work, not to mention my motion sickness. Yesterday afternoon, after arriving at my sister-in-law's vacation home in Delaware, I finally sat down at my computer to work, only to come down with a debilitating migraine headache that put me out of commission for the rest of the evening.

This morning, I awoke feeling physically well, but mentally exhausted with thoughts of the piles of work that has accumulated. As I was working, I got two pieces of good news:

First, I was notified that my NSF proposal on sum rules has been recommended for funding. However, there are several questions that I first need to address before approval. This will be my first priority, so my other work will need to wait.

While reading through the email from NSF, I got notification that a third paper on Nathan's work on photo mechanical liquid crystal elastomers was accepted. An excerpt of comments from each reviewer follows.

REVIEWER 1

The manuscript provides an in-depth model and related discussion on the deformation mechanism of azo containing liquid crystal elastomer upon a light trigger. The authors incorporated in the model heat effects as related to absorption and diffusion during and after exposure in the absorption band of the azo compound. To my opinion this was the first time that it was described so extensively rather than mentioning that heat effects might also play role next to the photo-isomerization reaction. For this reason it is my opinion that the paper should be published in the Journal of the Optical Society of America...

REVIEWER 2

In the manuscript “Modeling the mechanisms of the photomechanical response of a nematic liquid crystal elastomer”, authors have done the modeling to explain the plausible mechanisms involved in photomechanical response of nematic liquid crystal elastomer. In the previous report: N. J. Dawson et al., J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 28, 1916 (2011), authors have reported the experimental determination of mechanisms of photomechanical effects in a nematic liquid crystal elastomer in a particular device geometry. More interestingly, in the present report the models have been initially proposed and then used to compare with experimental results and to evaluate related material parameters. Undoubtedly, the theoretical modeling, comparison with experimental results and related explanations are up to the mark. Moreover, the report does not only demonstrate the fundamental mechanisms but also provide the platform for design of optical devices based on photomechanical effect and hence seems to be greatly useful for liquid crystal community as well as other related fields.

On the basis of the originality and novelty of the work presented in this report, I feel that it would be really of worth to keep this article in JOSA B. Therefore, I recommend it for the publication in JOSA B.

While life throws all sorts of crap our way, I take great comfort in the fact that I will be able to continue my work in sum rules, and how they elucidate the nature of light matter interactions. Future work in this area, while remaining on the esoteric side, is converging on ideas that will impact practical applications. These thoughts temporarily allow me to escape form my wories.

Gotta pack and run...

A silver lining

We have been on the east coast visiting with family in the Philadelphia area. What should have been a fun time has for me been colored with sadness and anxiety. First, there is the issue of what to do with my 95-year-old father.

He is highly independent, living on his own, cooking for himself, and competently driving a car. In fact, in the summer, he and his buddies (all younger than him) routinely drive to Cape May - a Victorian beach town - for a day of walking on the beach and eating out.

He is so energetic that he volunteers twice a week to work at the senior lunch, collecting the $1.50 cost of the meal, and making sure that the books are balanced. He even helps deliver food to the eighty-year-olds who need walkers.

Ten years ago, we decided to build an addition to our home so that my father could move in with us. He refused. I don't blame him. He has friends and activities to keep him busy. He routinely takes part in activities at the Ukrainian Church and the Ukrainian Center in the Fox Chase area of north of Philly. Pullman, on the other hand, has for all practical purposes zero Ukrainians for him to befriend. Though we are here for him, work is a large part of our days, so he would be bored to death without our company. In Philly, he is an active part of his micro-community.

My father is concerned that his driver's license will not be renewed, making his present lifestyle impossible. We are also concerned that as he gets older, he will be less able to take care of himself. Our agonizing decision comes down to a choice between him continuing to live alone with the chance that he may injure himself, but otherwise have a happy life; or, moving him to Pullman, and dooming him to certain misery. In my mind, both choices are far from ideal.

Our concerns were renewed a few days ago when my father fell (when alone in his apartment) as a result of a dizzy spell. He was bruised but otherwise seemed unharmed. However, it was painful for him to walk, and his nurse (who visits him occasionally at home for blood tests), recommended that he get an X-ray to make sure that he did not fracture his hip. Fortunately, we had made plans to have lunch with good friends of ours from Yardley. After lunch, John - an orthopedic surgeon, and Camille - a physical therapist, checked my fathers injuries and felt that they were not serious, but ordered X-rays just in case. We went to a local hospital in an expedited process - care of our friends. He was indeed not badly injured

This whole process reminded us of my father's precarious situation and the decisions that would have to be made. Unfortunately, every option, other than the status quo, is unacceptable to my father. No senior living homes, no roommates, no moving to Pullman, etc. So for now, we are trying to find ways to make his life simpler in his present living arrangements.

In the meantime, we have been driving extensively to get between my fathers place, and the various in-laws. As a result, I have been feeling depressed and anxious about not having time to work, not to mention my motion sickness. Yesterday afternoon, after arriving at my sister-in-law's vacation home in Delaware, I finally sat down at my computer to work, only to come down with a migraine headache moments later. My symptoms put me out of commission for the rest of the evening.

This morning, I awoke feeling physically well, but mentally exhausted with thoughts of the piles of work that has accumulated. As I was working, I got two pieces of good news within a few minutes of each other.

First, I was notified that my NSF proposal on sum rules has been recommended for funding. However, there are several questions that I first need to address before approval. This will be my first priority, so my other work will need to wait. Hope my graduate students understand my inaccessibility during this period of time.

Secondly, while reading through the email from NSF, my email dinged with a message that a third paper was accepted in our series of papers on Nathan's work on photo mechanical liquid crystal elastomers. An excerpt of comments from each reviewer follows.

REVIEWER 1

The manuscript provides an in-depth model and related discussion on the deformation mechanism of azo containing liquid crystal elastomer upon a light trigger. The authors incorporated in the model heat effects as related to absorption and diffusion during and after exposure in the absorption band of the azo compound. To my opinion this was the first time that it was described so extensively rather than mentioning that heat effects might also play role next to the photo-isomerization reaction. For this reason it is my opinion that the paper should be published in the Journal of the Optical Society of America...

REVIEWER 2
In the manuscript “Modeling the mechanisms of the photomechanical response of a nematic liquid crystal elastomer”, authors have done the modeling to explain the plausible mechanisms involved in photomechanical response of nematic liquid crystal elastomer. In the previous report: N. J. Dawson et al., J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 28, 1916 (2011), authors have reported the experimental determination of mechanisms of photomechanical effects in a nematic liquid crystal elastomer in a particular device geometry. More interestingly, in the present report the models have been initially proposed and then used to compare with experimental results and to evaluate related material parameters. Undoubtedly, the theoretical modeling, comparison with experimental results and related explanations are up to the mark. Moreover, the report does not only demonstrate the fundamental mechanisms but also provide the platform for design of optical devices based on photomechanical effect and hence seems to be greatly useful for liquid crystal community as well as other related fields.
On the basis of the originality and novelty of the work presented in this report, I feel that it would be really of worth to keep this article in JOSA B. Therefore, I recommend it for the publication in JOSA B.

I have to run!