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Former Valley resident, patent holder dies at 88
By Denise Dick
parma
A Chaney High School alumnus, who founded the Ohio Boychoir and secured several patents including one for a Hoover vacuum, has died.
Alexander Musichuk, 88, died Monday in Parma Community Hospital. He graduated from Chaney in 1942, and served in the Army Air Corps during World War II.
After graduating from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1948 with a degree in industrial design, Musichuk worked in the styling department of the Ford Motor Co.
He also helped develop the Hoover portable vacuum cleaner.
“That was on display at the Louvre,” said his son, Steve Musichuk of Hinckley, Ohio. “It was one of the first uprights.”
Musichuk’s other patents include the Hi-Lo bicycle, which could be taken apart for easy storage and transportation, a wagon and a toy tractor.
“He was amazing,” Steve Musichuk said. “He was a very focused individual. If he set his mind on it, he did it.”
Musichuk moved with his family to Youngstown as a child and lived in the city until he served in the war, his son, David Musichuk of Parma, said.
He was a man who had multiple interests.
He played cello in the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra and was a midwest fencing champion.
“That’s how he met my mother,” David said. “She was a women’s fencing champion for Ohio.”
Musichuk’s widow, the former Esther Woloschak, is also a Chaney graduate.
His father, the late Rev. Stephen Musichuk, was the first priest of Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Youngstown. While in high school, Musichuk sketched the design for the Osborn Avenue church, his sons said.
He also founded the Ohio Boychoir in 1974, which traveled around the world and performed for three U.S. presidents. He retired from leading the group in 2003, and it disbanded six years later for financial reasons.
Musichuk also leaves another son, John, a daughter, Maria; grandchildren, great-grandchildren and two sisters.
His funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Sts. Peter and Paul, and he’ll be buried in the church’s cemetery.