Clark Co., WI

George Olishkewych was born on May 2, 1919, in Horohiw. He attended grade school and high school in Ukraine and then went on to technical college to obtain a degree in economics. During World War II, he fought with the Independent Ukraine Underground against both Nazi Germany and Communist Russia. During the war, on Aug. 31, 1944, he married Luba Panasewych. They were eventually captured by the Germans and forced to work in Nazi prison labor camps. They escaped to American controlled Germany, and the United Ukrainian American Relief Fund helped him to earn a degree in agricultural engineering. In 1950, they moved to the United States and settled in Chicago. He worked for 10 years until they purchased a farm near Neillsville. Ten years later, they purchased the Arbutus Cafe in downtown Neillsville. They operated it for 30 years and added a night club. He briefly opened a roller rink in the old Neillsville Armory. He then founded GO Sportswear, a jacket manufacturing business. After the business outgrew its space in the Armory, he moved it to a larger facility in Thorp. He operated the business until the time of his death. He ran for the 7th Congressional District seat in the 1970s. He was a member of St. Katherine's Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church, Minneapolis, and St. Andrew's Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church, Bloomingdale, Ill.