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Curtis Bochanyin

Curtis Lee Bochanyin, age 82, of Chicago, passed away on August 23, 2023.

He was born on February 16, 1941, to John and Elida Hall Bochanyin in Medford. He grew up with his siblings on the family farm in Holton township near Dorchester.

Curtis attended the Barry grade school located about a mile from the home farm. He attended three years of high school at Dorchester and one year at Abbotsford, graduating in 1959.

His further education included the Holy Cross Seminary in La Crosse, the Dominican Novitiate in Winona, Minn., and the Catholic Seminary in River Forest, Ill. Curtis earned several post graduate degrees and was a librarian in the Divinity Library at the University of Chicago for several decades before his retirement in 2003.

He could speak Russian and Slovak and could read Hebrew and Greek. He was interested in genealogy and spent a lot of time tracing the family history back through many generations. He made several trips to Slovakia to connect with that branch of the family.

Curtis was a gentle soul, a lifelong scholar and had a wry sense of humor.

He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister, Betty White (Jack), and a brother, Stanley. Surviving are his partner of 53 years, Gregorio Juan Carlos Sanza; two sisters: Joanne Priest (Clifford) of Batavia, Ill., and Karen Fleming (Larry) of Crystal Lake, Ill.; twin brothers, Douglas Wysocki (Reba) of Lincoln, Neb. and Donald Wysocki (Carol) of Pasco, Wash., and many nieces and nephews.

There will be no service, per his wishes. He wanted his ashes to be buried next to his parents in St. Thomas Catholic Cemetery in Milan.

Paid obituary 142754

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