Rev. Basil (Vasyl) Merenkiw [Василь Меренків], (b. 1878 in Ukraine; d. 1939 in Nanticoke, PA). Ukrainian Catholic priest who arranged and composed music for the church. Fr. Merenkiw was ordained in 1904 in Lviv, Ukraine, and came to America a few years later. Prior to the 1920s, he served in Ramey, PA (St. Mary’s Annunciation), and Pittsburgh, PA (St. John the Baptist). He spent the following decade in Syracuse, NY (St. John the Baptist), and Buffalo, NY (St. Nicholas). His final assignment was at SS. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church in Cleveland, OH, where he worked together with choir director Antin Kohut. Fr. Merenkiw died on February 18, 1939, in Nanticoke, PA. He is buried at SS. Peter and Paul Cemetery in Parma, OH—the same cemetery which he obtained for that parish in 1935.