It is with great sadness and sense of loss that we inform you of the passing of Valeriy Kichenko. Valeriy was a valued member at UBC for over 13 years.
Valeriy will be remembered for his dedication to the university as our Environmental Services Facility (ESF) Technician, specializing in chemical waste disposal. His dedication and work ethic was particularly evident during COVID-19, where he reported to work every day to ensure researchers and lab managers had hazardous waste disposal support to continue their critical research. He was meticulous about safety and worked tirelessly with our colleagues at UBC’s Vancouver campus as well as our off-site hospital sites in greater Vancouver to ensure UBC always remained in compliance with hazardous waste regulations.
Valeriy enjoyed our local mountains and adored his cat who he lovingly called “his princess.” He was a lover of wildlife and once set up a trail camera near ESF in UBC’s South Campus to capture UBC’s wildlife, successfully capturing a few photos of a very inquisitive coyote. He was known as an excellent joke teller – despite knowing that sometimes the punchline didn’t translate all that well from Russian to English – and he spent hours working on cars with diesel engines.
Valeriy will be missed by the Safety & Risk Services team and all the staff and colleagues he’s worked with. Please keep Valeriy’s family in your thoughts as they go through this difficult time. Information on how we can pay our respects and condolences will be shared as we learn more from Valeriy’s family.
Memorial service
Valeriy’s family invites you to join the memorial service at Holy Resurrection Church on Wednesday, May 31 at 10:00 am. At approximately 11:15-11:30 am, family and friends will be heading out to Heritage Garden Cemetery, and returning to the Church for lunch at 1:30 pm.
Date: Wednesday, May 31, 2023
Time: 10:00 am
Holy Resurrection Church: 75 E 43rd Avenue, Vancouver, BC
Heritage Garden Cemetery: 19082 16h Avenue, Surrey, BC
Flag lowering on June 6, 2023
The BC, Musqueam and UBC flags (temporarily relocated to the East Mall Entrance and Plaza at the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre) will be lowered on June 6, 2023, in remembrance of faculty and staff who have passed away recently, including Valeriy.
If you need any support in processing this news, please reach out to our Employee Assistance provider, Lifeworks and contact the LifeWorks Care Access Centre which is available 24 hours, seven days a week, at 1-800-387-4765 or visit ubc.lifeworks.com (Note: UBC as your organization).