The Daily Herald from Chicago, Illinois • Page 56

THE HERALD Tuesday, August 16, 1977 Section I --5 Death deals yet another blow to Vietnamese family by DEBBE JONAK Dong Vo and his wife Hang Nguyen had put away their dreams when they fled Vietnam two years ago. The dreams are for the young now, for their children. An educated, well-to-do couple, they resigned themselves to toiling as unskilled labor the rest of their working lives. They only dared to hope for a small house of their own, where their five young children could play in the backyard. THAT HOPE WAS crushed soon after they scraped together $2,000 in earnest money for a home in Arlington Heights.

Vo, 38, once a lieutenant In the South Vietnamese Army, died last week of hepatitis. Wounded three times in the war, his liver damaged, his body could not withstand this final assault. "I was shocked that he would have survived all those crazy battles in Vietnam, then die of something like hepatitis." a friend of the family said. "He was a fighting man. Strong and Hang, 40, said in Broken Eng- lish, stopping because she could not find the right word to translate her feelings.

Until his death Hang and Vo lived in a two-bedroom apartment at 942 E. Old Willow Prospect Heights. Since the lease ran out, Hang and her children have stayed with relatives in Northbrook. She is trying to get back the earnest money, deal with insurance companies and doctors bills all in a country whose traditions and laws she does not understand. HANG WAS A clerk for the customs office in Saigon.

She had some college education and learned to read and write English. But she never learned how to speak English. Then in April 1075, word passed that the Communist take-over was imminent. "When Vo heard the news that the Americans and the American Embassy left Vietnam, he found a way to get out," Hua Nguyen, 22 a friend of Hang's said. "Everybody wanted to find a way to get out.

Her husband was a lieutenant colonel and so it was' easy for him to get on a ship," he said. VO ROUNDED up 24 of his relatives in just a few hours. They all ended up in the United States. They stayed at a refuge camp, from which the relatives were scattered a the country as various churches and organizations sponsored them. A church sponsored the Vo family to live in Aurora.

But the work was scarce there and labor cheap, so they moved to Prospect Heights. There Vo got a factory job at the Culligan Water Softening Co. in Northbrook. Hang took a job at the Daniel Woodsead Northbrook, assembling electronic parts. The children attended St.

Alphonsus Catholic School, 411 N. Wheeling Prospect Heights, tuition-free. It was the only charity they had asked for. VO, EAGER TO make his own way in the new country, began attending Harper College, Palatine, studying English as a second language. This futuristic church built true to its rich past by SCOTT FOSDICK A mammoth edifice has risen out of the streets of northwest Chicago.

A 13-dome mountain of glass and concrete, the imposing structure looks like a product of a cosmic collision between 12th Century Russia and 21st Century Mars. It is the result of years of saving by the tiny parish of St. Joseph's Ukranian Catholic Church, located in an otherwise drab, working class neighborhood just south of the Kennedy Expressway on Cumberland Avenue. THE SZ MILION church was built by Rem Builders Schaumburg, according to a design by former Chicago architect Zenon Mazurkevich. It took nearly two years to build, and although Masses have been said in the March, it will be 10 years before the Interior ceramic work Is finished.

Its walls are poured concrete the pillars are curved glass and the domes are colored Fiberglas. Despite the space-age materials, the Rev. Joseph Shary says it was built in strict compliance with the 4th Century Ukrainian liturgy. "Really and truly, it's a very traditional church," the Rev. Shary said.

BEGINNING WITH the domes, the building is replete with symbolism. The highest dome represents Jesus Christ, the next four represent the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and the lower eight are for the remaining Apostles. The Rev. Shary said the parish started saving for the new church 10 years ago because the old meeting hall the church used next door did not satisfy "liturgical prescriptions." "It's got to have much more light in it, it's got to be lofty," he said. The new church, built in what the Rev, Shary calls "Modern Uk- ranian Byzantne," satisfies the dictates of their faith.

IT TOOK A LOT of faith for a parish with just 250 families to build such a monument and a lot of money. How did such a small group of working class immigrants do it? "The people are a dedicated group; they work hard," Rev. Shary said. They paid for it out of their own pockets, and through numerous carnivals, fund-raising events and weekly bingo games. They're still paying it off, and as their own funds are running low, the Rev.

Shary said they've come up with a new funding gimmick. There are over 3,000 "tie-holes" in the concrete walls of the church, left when the builders removed the pouring molds. The Rev. Shary hopes to fill these holes with 3,000 gold-plated medallions, each with a likeness of St. Joseph pressed into it.

THE PARISH IS asking $100 to have one of these medallions placed in your name. This may sound like a far-fetched scheme, but according to the Rev. Shary, they've already sold 300 medallions, at a total cost of $30,000. He seems confident his parishioners will find a way to sell the rest of the medallions and plug the rest of the holes. The church building reflects this tenacious blend of old-world faith and American salesmanship.

And regardless of what anyone thinks of it, the new church is a landmark that will turn heads for many years to come. I the most traditional church in Chicago, and yet it's the most modern," the Rev. Shary said. THE OLD AND THE NEW. The $2 million monolith built by St.

Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic Church rises above the old parish house at 5000 N. Cum- berland on Chicago's far Northwest side. The parish plans to move the old house to another site. Things were going well. Vo and Hang saved enough money to have hopes of buying a house.

Then Vo fell ill in June and the family plunged into a period of confusion and grief. That is when Betty Salse, Vo's teacher at Harper became involved. A fast-learning and faithful student, Vo rarely missed her class. "Then suddenly he was absent," Mrs. Salse said.

She called the Vos and discovered her student was in Glenbrook Hospital, Glenview, seriously ill. THE FAMILY WAS trying alone to cope with the red tape of insurance, doctor bills, employment benefits and diagnoses with which even native Americans have trouble. Vo, described by Betsy Salse as a courageous man, was doing his best to handle the situation. He demanded his English homework be brought to him at the hospital. He communicated with the medical personnel in written English which he knows very well.

His large dictionary was at his bedside until his death, Aug. 3. But at his death, his wife was left to deal with problems that seemed easier when there were two of them. Fortunately, Mrs. Salse and another friend, Father Huber Hoffman, pastor of St.

Alphonsus, stepped in to help. HOFFMAN, WHO had grown close to the Vos during their stay in Prospect Heights, arranged for a very inexpensive funeral and burial with contributions from the Catholic Charities of the Chicago Archdiocese. Hoffman delivered a moving eulogy, Hang said. "My husband's funeral I am so happy about, spiritually and materially," she said. "It helped so much, I forgot my sadness." Mrs.

Salse helped the family straighten out bills and coDect insurance. "They'd get medical bills in the mail which said 'pay in 10 days' and not know what to do," Mrs. Salse said. "They'd call me in a panic." NOW THE ONLY problem left is the return of the $2,000 earnest money. It still is not certain that it will be returned.

Regardless, Hang and her children will move to California at the end of the month. There she will live with her husband's father and brother's Hang Nguyen and her son, Phong Vo, face an uncertain future. family, re-establishing at least in a small way, the familiar Vietnamese way of life. Hang, who long ago wanted to be-come a lawyer, probably will find another job. She will work toward her i education and their dreams, thankful that they are in a free country where they might realize them.

Mrs. Salse said she is going to look into the government setting up a program to help orient the Vietnamese to the American way of life and, cope with the problems that go along with it. She also is asking U.S. Rep. Philip M.

Crane, R-12th, to consider extending veterans benefits to the Vo family and other South Vietnamese veterans. "He fought in the same war on the same side," she said. 4 charged in golf course damage by DANN GIRE Four Buffalo Grove teen-agers were arrested Monday in connection with the $5,000 vandalism attack at the Buffalo Grove Golf Course, Aug. 5. Two 14-year-olds, one 15-year-old and one 16-year-old were taken into custody for the vandalism, which included the destruction of five golf carts and the killing of a tame duck kept at the golf course.

All four, released to the custody of their parents late Monday, are facing a state charge of criminal damage to Street names need fixing: committee (Continued from Page 1) mented as part of future planning. Trustees cited the village's water problems, sewer separation work and building programs as examples of items to be considered in such a capital improvements timetable. Several suggestions from the report already have been undertaken or are in the process of being considered, trustees said. Among these are ordinances to limit building heights in the village, create new zoning categories to keep up with future growth and outline traffic flow patterns in the village for truck use. The Barton-Aschman report was completed last fall as part of an updating of the village's 1973 master plan.

The report in addition recommends a comprehensive revision of the village's zoning ordinance to keep up with present growth. property, and vandalism under a local ordinance. All are being petitioned into juvenile court, Crime Prevention Officer Gary Del Re said. "THE PARENTS I have spoken to have all indicated they will make restitution for the damage," Del Re said. The youths are accused of destroying five golf carts, tearing up golf greens, damaging other golf equipment and slashing the throat of a tame duck kept at the golf course, 400 Lake Cook Rd.

Del Re said that one golf cart was driven into creek, another vehicle was run into a pond, a third cart was rammed "into something solid" and the last two were "rammed into each other repeatedly." Portions of the greens at holes 13, 14 and 15 were ripped up while two wooden benches were broken and waste baskets were overtimed. The youths admitted they caused the damage, but no one would accept responsibility for killing the duck, Del Re said. "APPARENTLY THESE ducks, three of them, were kind of mascots at the golf course. They were very tame and people could come up and feed them," Del Re said. "The people were very mad about the duck having its throat cut." Lose 5 to 7 Ibs.

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