At the end of June 1996, Tatiana Vsevolodovna Prujan, our longstanding parishioner and church worker, who was loved by everyone, departed to the Lord.
Our former Warden, Vladimir Makarovich Pawlenko, has compiled the following obituary dedicated to her memory.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8)
On Saturday, June 29th (1996), in her eighty-eighth
year and after a long illness, Tatiana Vsevolodovna Prujan, a
long-time parishioner of and church worker in the Washington,
DC, Cathedral Church of Saint John the Forerunner, reposed. Tatiana
Vsevolodovna was born on January 19, 1909, into the family of
General Vsevolod Fyodorovich Zapolsky and Tatiana Alexandrovna,
née Butyrkin.
In 1925, Tatiana Vsevolodovna graduated from the girl's high school in Khitrovo and began working, first as a bookkeeper, and then, after moving in 1935 to Peterhof, as an accountant, respon-sible for keeping stock of the museum valuables.
Tatiana Vsevolodovna married Georgi Georgievich Archaia, by whom she bore two daughters, Nina and Elena. Nina Chordas lives in Idaho, and Elena Logvinova, in Tennessee. During World War II, Tatiana Vsevolodovna lost her husband. These years were very difficult for her. She worked in a laundry. Together with her mother and her two daughters, she survived on a diet of soup made from potato peels and frozen cabbage roots. During one of the exchanges of fire [between the German] and Soviet forces, Tatiana Vsevolodovna's mother was killed when a shell struck their barracks. Now left with only her children, Tatiana Vsevolodovna continued to endure hunger, cold and other adversities. However, the Lord God took pity upon Tatiana Vsevolodovna and brought her an occurrence which changed her life.
It so happened that Tatiana Vsevolodovna suffered a severe cut on her hand and went to the commandant's office to have it bandaged. After their conversation, which had begun German, continued in French, the commandant brought her into his office as an interpreter.
When the Soviet forces approached, Tatiana Vsevolodovna and her family, not wanting to fall into Soviet hands, traveled by freight car to Estonia, where they lived approximately one year. Subsequently, she decided to accompany other refugees in going by ship to Germany. The journey was both difficult and dangerous, with mines and shells exploding all around the ship. However, God was merciful, and in 1942/43, they arrived at Neuburg, where Tatiana Vsevolodovna obtained employment in a factory. There she lived until the end of the war.
In 1945, Tatiana Vsevolodovna moved to Munich, so that her children might attend the Russian school there. In June 1950, Tatiana Vsevolodovna was able to emigrate with her children to America. After coming to New York, she moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where she lived until 1959. In 1957, Tatiana Vsevolodovna remarried, marrying Georgi Yevgenievich Prujan, and in 1961 moved to Washington, where she worked in an office until 1979. In April 1986, her husband, Georgi Yevgenievich Prujan, died.
After I arrived in Washington in 1965, I first met Tatiana Vsevolodovna at the Church of Saint John the Baptist. She was bringing a group of pre-schoolers from the rectory, where she held classes with them every Saturday, into the church for Holy Communion. The children loved her and obeyed her, apparently aware of her sincere love for them. Tatiana Vsevolodovna continued to operate that kindergarten, without a break, for several decades.
This is but one of the spiritual struggles which she voluntarily took upon herself and fulfilled with distinction. In like manner, she assumed other church responsibilities. Toward the end of the 1970's, our parish decided to complete the building of our church. Every such great undertaking is accompanied by many difficulties and differences of opinion. At that time, I was director of the Building Committee, which consisted of twenty members, including Tatiana Vsevolodovna. Showing forth both drive and reason, she attended all of the meetings of the Building Committee, and made creative and well-founded suggestions. Likewise, she always managed to support all of the functions of the Sisterhood.
For many years, Tatiana Vsevolodovna was in charge of the candle stand. This duty required her to be present at all church services, and, regardless of the weather, she was always at her post. Sometimes she was offered transportation, most often by our Protodeacon Father Leonid. However, many times one could see Tatiana Vsevoldovna standing under her umbrella at the bus stop, patiently waiting for the bus.
When Tatiana Vsevolodovna's strength began to fail, and she sometimes was forced to remain at home, she deeply regretted those occasions, and was anxious to again take her place at the candle stand as soon as possible. Everyone was amazed by her energy and strength of spirit. She was truly a believer and in the latter days of her life often came to confession and communed of the Holy Gifts. In her dealings with others, she treated everyone alike: she loved everyone. That love was especially shown by [her custom] of sending each person a greeting card on his or her saint's day. She maintained her own personal filing system and never forgot anyone.
Tatiana Vsevolodovna was deeply loved by our parishioners. This was quite evident at her funeral, when, despite the fact that it was a work day, the church was filled with people, old and young, who had come to bid her farewell.
In conclusion, I would like to note that the cross and spiritual struggle voluntarily taken upon herself by Tatiana Vsevolodovna would have been too heavy for many of us. We must recognize that now, in our apocalyptic age, the number of people with such energy and strength of will, who strive to serve God, is very, very small. We will always remember her as a remarkable woman and a laborer for the Church.
To our dear and beloved Tatiana Vsevolodovna, memory eternal. May the Lord give her rest among the righteous. May she rest in the American earth is if in a bed of down.
Former Church Warden and head of the Building Committee,
M. Pawlenko, August 1996