Here is the informative eulogy by Abbot German Ciuba. Articulately composed, it was also published in a timely manner so that we can understand Archpriest Vladimir Shishkoff's church life, which began at the same Cathedral where the future St John Maximovitch was consecrated Bishop before being dispatched to Shanghai, China in 1934.
Abbot Ciuba thoughtfully wrote:
"With the repose of Father Vladimir Shishkoff a chapter of church history is ending. I know that I am not alone in feeling an immense debt of gratitude to Father Vladimir for all the assistance he provided over the years. There was a time when he was the face of the Synod, and he represented it well, with dignity, zeal and love.
"For those who did not know Father Vladimir or have forgotten him, I would like to share a few recollections.
"Fr Vladimir grew up in the large and thriving Russian community that formed in Yugoslavia after the Bolshevik Revolution. He was an altar server at the Russian Church of the Holy Trinity in Belgrade, where he absorbed the church services and their typicon. He was perhaps one of our last links to Metropolitan Antony (Khrapovitsky), of blessed memory, our first Primate. After World War II, he came to the U.S. with his family. He served in the American army in Japan. He studied at Dartmouth University and became a civil engineer. He worked for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (at one time his office was in the World Trade Center), and he was connected with the construction of the Verrazano Bridge.
"For many years he was a subdeacon for the late Metropolitan Anastassy (Gribanovsky), of blessed memory. He was a spiritual son of Archbishop Adrian (Rymarenko) of Rockland, the founder of Novo-Diveevo Convent, and later of the late Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky), of blessed memory. A descendant of the famous Russian statesman and writer Admiral A.S. Shishkoff, he married the daughter of Father George Grabbe, later Bishop Gregory of Manhattan, of Washington and Florida, who for many years was the administration of our Synod.
"In middle age Father Vladimir was ordained to the sacred priesthood, while continuing to work as an engineer. He was sent to Our Lady of Kazan Church in Newark, New Jersey, where the parish was in very poor shape, having experienced a scandal with a previous priest and being located in a slum of Newark. Fr Vladimir later reminisced that when he first came to his church, there were roaches running across the altar. Under his direction the parish acquired and moved to a lovely former Episcopal church in a better neighbourhood of Newark, which over the years Fr Vladimir decorated with many beautiful icons, all the while preserving the distinctive brick architecture of the church. The parish grew and thrived under Fr Vladimir's rectorship. The services were done "po ustavu." Every Friday night an Akathistos to the Mother of God of Kazan was served.
"Although he was a staunch Russian patriot, he welcomed everyone, Russian or not. He used to say that the Russian language never saved anyone. Father Vladimir was a dynamo of energy, always on the go, always helping someone.
"He and his perfect complement, Matushka Mary, were emblematic of Russian hospitality. Everyone was always welcome at their house; one never knew who would turn up for dinner (poor Matushka always had to be prepared!). They always had people staying with them. For many years, until his repose, they took care of the invalid Abbot Gerasim (Romanoff); later they took in Matushka's father, Bishop Gregory, when he retired. And there were others - a recovering alcoholic, a new immigrant, a needy clergyman - all found refuge with the Shishkoffs at their home in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and later in Elmwood Park.
"When Fr Vladimir retired from his secular job, he went to work at the Synod on 93rd Street as an assistant to Bishop Gregory. There he was instrumental in bringing many people into the Russian Church Abroad.
"Though Fr Vladimir did not have a formal theological education, he was very well-read; he had an excellent library, and knew the services, canons and history of the Church very well.
"Fr Vladimir was a man of fiery character and commanding presence. I remember back in 1981, when my Roman Catholic grandmother passed away, Fr Vladimir came to the funeral home to pay his respects. When he walked in, tall and distinguished, dressed in a long winter ryasa and carrying a silver-tipped cane, a hush fell over everyone at the wake, and one of my aunts said, "He's like Moses!" Fr Vladimir used his strong character, his booming bass voice and his confident mind in the service of the Church. Many times he would be sent out by the hierarchy as a trouble-shooter to some parish where there were problems. To such situations he brought common sense and good order. One always felt that there was an authoritative figure one could turn to in moments of doubt and difficulty. Fr Vladimir was able to unite in his person strictness and gentleness, insistence and understanding, zeal and love, single-mindedness and tolerance, prayerfulness and sociability, spirituality and worldly experience.
"I came to him as a young man, a student and a seminary drop-out, and he took me in to his parish, made me a reader and later sponsored my ordination to the holy priesthood. Especially in the difficult first years after ordination, Fr Vladimir was always on call for advice and direction. He affected my life deeply, and I am privileged to have known him.
"In later years Fr Vladimir, a man of strong and unshakable convictions who feared no one, could not in good conscience accept the changes which the Russian Church Abroad underwent after the fall of communism and the failure of our initial policy of confrontation with the Moscow Patriarchate, which led to the creation of what is now called the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church, under Metropolitan Valentin of Suzdal. He was loyal to his beliefs, and sadly ended up isolated from the rest of his beloved Russian Church Abroad. In his last years he suffered what was surely a great podvig for a man of his mind and energy, reduced to the life of a frail invalid in a wheelchair. In everything his support and help has been Matushka Mary, whose sweetness and calmness fittingly contrasted with Fr Vladimir's peppery and energetic character. Matushka cared for Fr Vladimir at home, just as she had cared for so many others over the years, with patience and kindness.
"May God grant his servant Archpriest Vladimir rest in that place where there is no more sickness, sadness or sighing, no more politics and jurisdictions [---my editing: that's funny!] but life unending"
