Frank Estocin, 73, Ukrainian Orthodox priest

Protopresbyter Frank Estocin, 73, of Doylestown, a Ukrainian Orthodox priest, died Sunday, June 6, of apparent heart failure while in his office at St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in East Oak Lane.

He had ministered at St. Vladimir's for more than 26 years.

For nine years before his appointment to St. Vladimir's, Father Estocin held administrative positions at the Ukrainian Orthodox Center in South Bound Brook, N.J., and was a rector and dean at the St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Seminary there. After moving to Philadelphia, he continued to teach at the seminary and loved mentoring young people, said his wife, Irene Totin Estocin.

He was elevated to protopresbyter, the highest rank for a Ukrainian Orthodox priest, in the late 1990s.

Father Estocin, whose parents emigrated from Eastern Europe, grew up in Turtle Creek, Allegheny County. He enlisted in the Army in 1955 and attended Army language school in California before serving with an intelligence unit in Berlin.

After his discharge in 1958, he entered the Byzantine Catholic Seminary of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Pittsburgh. He was ordained in 1966 and served in Byzantine Catholic Churches in Western Pennsylvania. He studied in Rome for two years and became a Ukrainian Orthodox priest in 1972.

An accomplished linguist, Father Estocin spoke several Eastern European languages as well as Italian and German. He was a talented artist and icon painter.

In addition to his wife of 28 years, he is survived by a son, Andrew; a daughter, Mary Elizabeth Teryek; a brother; and three grandchildren.

Requiem services will be at 9 a.m. Wednesday, June 9, at St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Cathedral, 6740 N. Fifth St., Philadelphia 19126. Friends may call at 8:30. Burial will be in St. Andrew's Cemetery, South Bound Brook. Donations may be made to the cathedral.