Hi Joe:
My Grandmother, Eva Ganczarz, immigrated to Canada in 1899 and married my Grandfather, Georgius Skiba, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Both were Ukrainians from Stare Siolo and listed as Ruthenians and Greek Catholic on Winnipeg 1911 Census documents. Her Testimony of Baptism (TOB), written in Latin, was issued by the local Greek Catholic church in Stare Siolo (which I believe later burnt down). On the TOB, her last name is shown as above. Web searches for Ganczarz show about 200 compared to about 100,000 for Gancarz. I’ve wondered if the name was spelled wrong on the TOB, but have found Ganczarz in the village of Rzeszow, 69 km southwest of Stare Siolo.
Other Ganczarz, who traveled with my grandmother to Canada, settled in the farming area of Sifton, Manitoba. They included Anton, Helene, Kaska, Rosalie, Franz and Steph Ganczarz. Here Ganczarz became Gancher.
The TOB and her Winnipeg marriage certificate, show her parents as Tomas (Tomiko) Ganczarz and Anna Jakimicha. The TOB shows Anna’s father as Georgii Jakimicha. I have also found Jakimicha in the village of Makowisko, 18 km from Stare Siolo. (
Galizien-Online - Geschichte und Ahnenforschung des ehemaligen Königreichs Galizien, Österreich)
Last week, I visited the first Ukrainian Catholic church (St. Michael’s) built in Canada in October 1899 in Gardenton, Manitoba. It is my understanding that when Ukrainian immigrants from Galicia arrived in the Prairies there were no Greek Catholic churches, so they built their own, and Ukrainian Catholic became a modified version of the original Greek Catholic. The church in Gardenton is very much like the photos of the churches in Oleszyce, except much smaller, and was built by Ukrainians mostly from Bukowyna, West Ukraine. The cemetery contains no Ganczarz or Jakimicha, but I did find a Woroniuk, which are relatives on my Grandfather’s side.
Hope this answers some of your questions.
Larry