Boba
Thu, 15 Mar 2007 18:10:48 -0800
IN MEMORIAM DR. DIMITRIJE PIVNICKI Dr Dimitrije Pivnicki died on Wednesday, March 7 at his Notre-Dame-deGrace home. He was 89. Dimitrije Pivnicki was born on November 12, 1918, in Novi Becej in the former Yugoslavia. His father had a successful law practice and, in accordance with his family's wishes, Dr. Pivnicki earned a law degree in 1941. Thereafter, he went to Hungary to pursue the study of medicine. When he returned to Novi Becej at the end of the war, his father had died, his father's law offices were abandoned and his family's land had been nationalized by the communists. He was drafted into the army medical corps and worked there for eighteen months. In 1949, he trained as a psychiatrist and completed his medical studies at the University of Belgrade. Upon graduation, the communist party sent him to work for two years at the general hospital of Mostar, a small town in Bosnia Herzegovina, in the internal medicine department. In 1951, he moved to Sarajevo, the provincial capital, to study and practice neuropsychiatry, the study of mental disease through the nervous system. On September 6, 1952, he married Bogdanka Illic, a registered nurse. Milica, their first child, was born in Sarajevo in 1953. Their son John was born in 1957.
Dr. Pivnicki, a member of the Serbian Orthodox church, was a deeply
religious man, who had practiced his faith in secret in communist
Yugoslavia. In 1956, with a plan to circumvent the strict exit rules and to
get his family out of the country, Dr. Pivnicki took a research fellowship
position at the Allen Memorial Institute of Psychiatry at the Royal Victoria
Hospital in Montreal. In 1958, his family immigrated to Canada and joined
him in Montreal. In 1961, their third child, Ivana, was born. In 1963, the
family moved to their home on Marlowe Avenue in NDG, where Dr. Pivnicki
lived the rest of his life.
Dr. Pivnicki spent his career at the Allen Memorial Institute, where he
became a Senior Psychiatrist. He was also an Assistant Professor of
Psychiatry at McGill University. Dr. Pivnicki was a Fellow of the Royal
College of Physicians of Canada and a Fellow of the American Psychiatric
Association. Dr. Pivnicki was a beloved husband, father, father-in-law,
grandfather, great-grandfather and friend. In his home on Marlowe Avenue, he
entertained professors, philosophers, doctors, politicians and lawyers on an
on-going basis for 45 years. He was an intellectual with a deep interest in
ancient history, language and theology. In early 1990, Dr. Pivnicki, who had
been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, was admitted to the Montreal
Neurological Institute, where he underwent surgery to relieve pressure on
his brain. Dr. Pivnicki recovered and went back to practicing at the Allen
Memorial Institute until his retirement in 1996. He continued to write and
contribute to medical journals and forums until his death.
In Canada, Dr. Pivnicki dedicated much of his time to the Serbian Orthodox
Church, of which he was president. He led the fundraising for the purchase
of the new Serbian Orthodox Church located on Melville Avenue in Westmount.
Dr. Pivnicki is survived by his wife Boba, his children Mila, John and
Ivana, and their spouses, Brian Mulroney (former Canadian Prime Minister),
Manuela Soares, and Wayne Carson; by his grandchildren Caroline, Ben, Mark,
and Nicolas Mulroney; Dimitri, Anastasia, and Kristina Pivnicki; and Zachary
and Katie Carson; and by his great-grandchildren, Lewis, Pierce and Theodora
Lapham.
The wake was held on Monday, March 12th at the Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox
Church in Montreal. The family was joined by 400 people for the funeral that
was held at the same location on Tuesday, March 13 at 10am.
****
Serbian National Shield Society of Canada has written the following eulogy,
which was read by Boba Borojevic at the reception held after the funeral
service:
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EULOGY AT THE FUNERAL OF DR. DIMITRIJE PIVNICKI
Bereaved family of the late Dr. Dimitrije Pivnicki - Mrs. Bogdanka,
children, and grandchildren - relatives and friends.
We are gathered today to remember and pay tribute to our late Dr.
Pivnicki
- a loving family man, a fine gentleman, doctor, professor and patriot - and
to celebrate a life well lived.
Dr. Pivnicki was proud of his Serbian heritage. He was president emeritus of
the Serbian National Shield Society of Canada (Srpska Narodna Odbrana u
Kanadi) and a past president of our local Montreal chapter.
On behalf of our organization's membership, please accept our sincere
condolences. We are honoured and proud to be able to say that Dr. Pivnicki
was one of our members.
May he find his repose in God's heavenly kingdom.
Bora Dragasevic
Lofelong President
Aleksandar Pantelic
President