The famous Russian Orthodox missionary and scholar the Archpriest Michael James Oleksa, has passed away at the age of 76 in Anchorage after suffering a stroke. It was reported through his church, the Russian Orthodox Diocese from Sitka as well as Alaska on November. 29.
Oleksa was the priest of more than twelve Alaska Native villages across the state for the past five decades in Alaska. He moved to Kwethluk in 1972, and there he met with his spouse Xenia and was deacon, before serving being a priest at Napaskiak.
The priest who is now retired Fr. Martin Nicolai of Kwethluk worked with Oleksa on Yup’ik translations of documents that relate to Orthodox time in Alaska. He claimed that Oleksa had strong ties with the community in which he lived.
“He was married to the Kwethluk family. He was extremely connected to the Yup’ik group,” Nicolai said. “He was an integral part of many things, not just for being a pastor in Alaska as well as for all of the Alaska Native peoples in general.”
Recently, Oleksa played a key role in suggesting Olga Michael of Kwethluk to be the very first woman Orthodox saint of North America, as well as the first Yup’ik saint. Oleksa had the privilege of meeting St. Olga when he was a deacon at Kwethluk throughout the late 1970s. He was able to compile the testimony that were required to officially naming her as saint.
Oleksa was born the 16th of March 1947. He was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He moved to Alaska in the year 1970, having graduated from St. Vladimir’s Seminary in New York at the invitation of the Alutiiq village of Old Harbor on Kodiak Island.
Oleksa was a leading figure in intercultural communication in Alaska as well as a student of Alaska Native language and culture. He taught at several institutions in Alaska and wrote publications about Russian Orthodox history, including “Orthodox Alaska” and “Alaskan Missionary Spirituality.” He completed the Ph.D. in Slovakia in 1988, focusing on Alaska Native culture throughout his time in the Alaska Russian period (1741-1867).
Oleksa is survived by his children and wife.
