Nestor Burbela

NESTOR BURBELA
95 years old
March 26, 1927 – October 9, 2022
Nestor was born in the small Ukrainian village of Vybodiv, located in western
Ukraine.
Nestor passed away with son Peter and daughter-in-law Courtney by his side.
Nestor's wife and life-partner Jean, of the Yorkshire village of Hatfield passed in
2007. Nestor and Jean built a life and a family together with son Peter in Roselle
Park, NJ. Nestor continued to live alone in the home they created until Peter and
Courtney moved in in 2014 to help take care of him.
Nestor loved nature and his garden. He anxiously awaited each summer so that
he could be in the garden and go down to the beach. He reveled in the heat, and
when others were craving A/C, he was happiest with a drip of sweat on the end
of his nose!
He certainly travelled a long road in getting to New Jersey. Born in a rustic dirt
floor home, he was proud of learning to drive at 16 and joined the Ukrainian
Division of the German army driving in mechanized units with the goal of
independence for his native Ukraine from the Soviets. As a POW he moved
through Hungary, the former Czechoslovakia, Italy, and finally England, where he
worked on a farm, and met future wife Jean. Never being afraid of physical work,
he worked in a Sheffield steel mill and even semi-pro boxed, before again
moving, this time "across the pond" to NJ.
In NJ he married Jean who had followed him over, did some modeling, and
settled into his trade as a machinist. Nestor worked longest (for over 20 years) at
General Dynamics where he made components for submarines and F-16's.
His final resting place will be at Hollywood Memorial Park in Union NJ after
Services and farewells at Trinity Episcopal Church in Cranford, NJ on Tuesday,
October 18, 2022
In lieu of flowers any donations can be made to Care USA's Ukraine Humanitarian
Crisis Fund