It is with sadness that HURI has learned of the passing of Tamara Nary, longtime HURI Programs Administrator whose hospitality and warmth will be remembered by all who visited HURI during her tenure.
Although Tamara officially joined HURI as staff in 2002, her connection with the Institute and Ukrainian studies far predates her professional appointment. She attended one of the first classes of the Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute soon after the program was established in 1971. She also worked with the Ukrainian Studies Fund, assisting the fundraising efforts that were so critical to the foundation and support of Ukrainian studies at Harvard and beyond.
As Programs Administrator, Tamara facilitated HURI’s fellowship program, events programming, and acted as administrator for the Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute. Throughout the decades of her work at HURI, she assisted the Institute’s growth and evolution as it responded to changing needs in the post-Soviet era. Tamara retired in 2019 to spend more time with her family as she began her battle with cancer.
Tamara passed away on Thursday, April 21, 2022, at home and surrounded by loved ones. Her impact on HURI remains to be felt in our activities today, and we are grateful to Tamara for her commitment to the Institute, to Ukrainian studies, and to Ukraine. Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time of loss; may their memories of her bring joy and may she rest in peace.
Obituary (Boston Globe)
Published by Boston Globe from Apr. 23 to Apr. 24, 2022.
NARY, Tamara Hutnik
Tamara was born on February 22, 1947, in a displaced persons camp near Salzburg, Austria after World War II to Alexander and Halina Hutnik. Her family immigrated to the U.S. in 1951 and settled in Ohio. She is survived by her husband, Thomas, and children, Mark, A.J. and wife Kari, Julia and husband Nate Richardson, and five grandchildren, brother, Victor and wife Debbie, and many nephews, nieces, and cousins.
Tamara graduated from Valley Forge High School in Parma, Ohio and received her undergraduate from Baldwin-Wallace College. She continued her studies receiving a Masters in History from the University of Connecticut, and then lived in Cambridge where she was a teacher at Lexington High School.
After marrying Tom and the birth of their first son, she became the Programs Administrator at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. Tamara and Tom settled in Newton where they raised their three children. She remained active within the St. Andrews Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Tamara spent many summers on Cape Cod and enjoyed countless hours gardening, painting, cooking and spending time with her children and grandchildren. After a long battle with cancer, Tamara passed peacefully on April 21, 2022 at home with her family by her side. She will be missed by many.
Funeral Arrangements
Visiting Hours will be held at St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Church, 24 Orchard Hill Rd., Jamaica Plain, on Tuesday, April 26, from 5-7 pm.
A Funeral Service will be held at St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Church, 24 Orchard Hill Rd., Jamaica Plain on Wednesday, April 27, at 10 am. Relatives and friends are invited.
Interment will take place on Thursday, April 28, at St. Andrew Cemetery, South Bound Brook, New Jersey.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to help the children of Ukraine at the following link: https://www.savethechildren.org/us/where-we-work/ukraine.
For guestbook condolences please visit www.bradyfallon.com Brady & Fallon Funeral Home 617 524 0861