Remembering Vera Kunsak
Vera Stadichenko Kunsak was born in Vladivostok, Russia, the last of eight children born to Maxim and Anna Stadnichenko. It was a patriotic family with a strong belief in God and a love of learning and nature. She was a childhood friend of Yul Brynner who lived on the same block. After the communist revolution, she and most of her family left Russia. Vera and her mother lived in Prague for a short time before immigrating to America. For a while, Vera and her sister Asya lived in Illinois where Vera attended the University of Chicago, receiving her master’s degree in bacteriology.
When her sister died, Vera moved to Washington, DC to be with other family members. She worked as a bacteriologist at the Glendale Tuberculosis Sanitarium. She also worked at Children’s Hospital where she was greatly admired by the doctors.
Vera met and married her beloved husband, Stephan Kunsak, during World War II (in 1944). She was widowed in 1966.
Animals were her passion from the time, as a 5 year old, she befriended a guard dog at a bank. Throughout her life she helped or adopted countless abandoned and abused animals of all kinds. She even cared for an owl with a broken beak for 19 years, feeding her by hand. She named her Smokey because she was rescued after falling down a chimney. She was one of the founders of SPAY, Inc. and worked for the Audubon Society raising baby birds. She knew how to set a bird’s wing when it was broken.
Vera was very proud of her Russian heritage and a devout member of Saint Nicholas Cathedral. She loved the teaching and traditions of the Orthodox religion. She was sustained by many loving friends and family. Vera died at the age of 94 on December 2, 2001, in a fire in her home and was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Suitland, Maryland.
Memory Eternal – darkness shall not overcome the light. (Submitted by Vera’s niece, Anna Mighell)
