Obituary for Gregory Mursky
Dr. Gregory Mursky
Devoted Educator
Dr. Gregory Mursky, of Mequon, WI passed away on August 23, 2019 at the age of 90. He leaves behind his wife, Marilyn (nee Byhre), his daughters Chrystyna V. Mursky (Timothy Fuller) and Teresa A. Mursky (Mikel Schneck), and stepdaughters Victoria Mosconi (William) and Georgene Hecker. He is also survived by three grandchildren, Sara, Rene, and Jesse, two step-grandchildren, Maily and Noah, and many relatives and friends.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, Mary H. Mursky (nee Danyluk), his parents, Peter and Ksenia Mursky, and his brother, Stephen Mursky.
Dr. Mursky was a professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM). He joined UWM in the fall of 1964, a time when the University was in a formative stage of development. Over the period of 32 years he was with the Department he taught thousands of undergraduate and scores of graduate students in geological subjects dealing with mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry, and the geology of the planets and our moon. During the period of 1965 and 1969 Professor Mursky served as the Chairman of the Geology Department, as it was known then. He played a key role in the development of the Department, including hiring and staffing the faculty, thus helping to shape the course for the Departmental curricula and its practical application to the petroleum and mineral deposits industry.
Dr. Mursky received a BA degree from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, a BS (Honors) degree in geology from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada, and his Masters (MS) and Doctorate (PhD) degrees from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California with specialties in mineralogy and petrology.
Between 1956 and 1959 Professor Mursky was employed as a geologist and chief uranium mine geologist by Eldorado Nuclear Limited at Port Radium on Great Bear Lake in Canada, and between the summers of 1960 and 1962 he served as the company’s exploration geologist in the Canadian Arctic. During 1963 and part of 1964, as well as the summers of 1965 to 1969, Dr. Mursky was a Research Fellow with the Geological Survey of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario investigating the mineralogy and geochemistry of granitic igneous rock units in British Columbia, Canada. In Wisconsin, beginning in 1964, he and his graduate students conducted extensive research on granitic bodies and 1.8 billion-year-old volcanic rock units and found the latter to be capable of hosting metallic mineral deposits. Some of his graduate students’ research projects dealt with economic mineral deposits in various parts of the United States and as far as Greece, South Africa, and Brazil. Professor Mursky has an impressive list of publications dealing with his research and several textbooks for college geology students. As a member of academic and professional geological organizations, he presented his research findings at their meetings in the USA and abroad.
Professor Mursky had a keen interest in the Ukrainian Academic and Cultural Societies and was a long-term supporter of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta in Edmonton and the Ukrainian programs at Harvard University in Boston. In Milwaukee, he was instrumental in the introduction of Ukrainian courses at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He was a parishioner of St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Milwaukee and served as a Board Member for a number of years. He also devoted considerable time and energy to the cultural and educational programs of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and served as a teacher of the Ukrainian language for the children of the Ukrainian community in Milwaukee for several years.
Funeral services will be held at St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, 1025 South 11th Street, Milwaukee, WI at eleven o’clock on Tuesday, August 27, 2019, followed by private interment at Resurrection Cemetery in Mequon, WI. Friends may pay their respects and visit with the family starting one hour before the service. Instead of flowers and if so desired memorial donations may be made to support the child victims of the Chernobyl Nuclear Catastrophe through Chernobyl Children International (https://www.chernobyl-international.com/) or contributed to a charity of choice.
Dr. Mursky reveled in the planets’ history and the comets’ glow; his task fulfilled God took him home. May he fly on the wings of angels to the heavens.
Devoted Educator
Dr. Gregory Mursky, of Mequon, WI passed away on August 23, 2019 at the age of 90. He leaves behind his wife, Marilyn (nee Byhre), his daughters Chrystyna V. Mursky (Timothy Fuller) and Teresa A. Mursky (Mikel Schneck), and stepdaughters Victoria Mosconi (William) and Georgene Hecker. He is also survived by three grandchildren, Sara, Rene, and Jesse, two step-grandchildren, Maily and Noah, and many relatives and friends.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, Mary H. Mursky (nee Danyluk), his parents, Peter and Ksenia Mursky, and his brother, Stephen Mursky.
Dr. Mursky was a professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM). He joined UWM in the fall of 1964, a time when the University was in a formative stage of development. Over the period of 32 years he was with the Department he taught thousands of undergraduate and scores of graduate students in geological subjects dealing with mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry, and the geology of the planets and our moon. During the period of 1965 and 1969 Professor Mursky served as the Chairman of the Geology Department, as it was known then. He played a key role in the development of the Department, including hiring and staffing the faculty, thus helping to shape the course for the Departmental curricula and its practical application to the petroleum and mineral deposits industry.
Dr. Mursky received a BA degree from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, a BS (Honors) degree in geology from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada, and his Masters (MS) and Doctorate (PhD) degrees from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California with specialties in mineralogy and petrology.
Between 1956 and 1959 Professor Mursky was employed as a geologist and chief uranium mine geologist by Eldorado Nuclear Limited at Port Radium on Great Bear Lake in Canada, and between the summers of 1960 and 1962 he served as the company’s exploration geologist in the Canadian Arctic. During 1963 and part of 1964, as well as the summers of 1965 to 1969, Dr. Mursky was a Research Fellow with the Geological Survey of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario investigating the mineralogy and geochemistry of granitic igneous rock units in British Columbia, Canada. In Wisconsin, beginning in 1964, he and his graduate students conducted extensive research on granitic bodies and 1.8 billion-year-old volcanic rock units and found the latter to be capable of hosting metallic mineral deposits. Some of his graduate students’ research projects dealt with economic mineral deposits in various parts of the United States and as far as Greece, South Africa, and Brazil. Professor Mursky has an impressive list of publications dealing with his research and several textbooks for college geology students. As a member of academic and professional geological organizations, he presented his research findings at their meetings in the USA and abroad.
Professor Mursky had a keen interest in the Ukrainian Academic and Cultural Societies and was a long-term supporter of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta in Edmonton and the Ukrainian programs at Harvard University in Boston. In Milwaukee, he was instrumental in the introduction of Ukrainian courses at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He was a parishioner of St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Milwaukee and served as a Board Member for a number of years. He also devoted considerable time and energy to the cultural and educational programs of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and served as a teacher of the Ukrainian language for the children of the Ukrainian community in Milwaukee for several years.
Funeral services will be held at St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, 1025 South 11th Street, Milwaukee, WI at eleven o’clock on Tuesday, August 27, 2019, followed by private interment at Resurrection Cemetery in Mequon, WI. Friends may pay their respects and visit with the family starting one hour before the service. Instead of flowers and if so desired memorial donations may be made to support the child victims of the Chernobyl Nuclear Catastrophe through Chernobyl Children International (https://www.chernobyl-international.com/) or contributed to a charity of choice.
Dr. Mursky reveled in the planets’ history and the comets’ glow; his task fulfilled God took him home. May he fly on the wings of angels to the heavens.