" MOYA DUSHA " George Baranin 1915-2005

by Roy Tschudy
(Suffern NY 10901)

He was 89, one month short of his 90th year. Six foot tall with broad shoulders , still a strapping figure after all these years. One could not look at "Grandpa" and not notice those legs, oh those legs, long and bowed at the knees, as if he spent years on the rodeo circuit busting Broncs instead of a kid who grew up on the streets of the Bronx. His hands were akin to the size of a baseball glove; big and strong, yet gentle to the touch. George had many physical characteristics that made him unique in a funny kind of way, but then again nothing to laugh about. Way before he became "Grandpa" or even "Dad", he was just George. George was born in the spring of 1915 to immigrant parents who arrived in the states just a few years earlier from Yugoslavia.His father was named Mirko, or Michael in translation, like many others who came before him from all different areas of the world to seek a new and better life. After a short while in Mirkos new country, he became involved with other Serbian folksand helped to build the Serbian Orthodox church located in Manhattan New York. All life and activities centered around the church: social events, political views, everything and anything in life, the church was the center for more than worship. She was just seventeen, alone , a little bit afraid, yet determined to find her path in life. Her mane was Mileva, but better known as Millie to her family and friends. She arrived knowing only her native language and nothing else.It was here in Manhattan in the small Serbian community that both Millieand Mirkocrossed paths and as itso happens on an every day basis from the beginning of time, the two fell in love and married. From this union two children were born and raised in the borough of New York, named THE BRONX.