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Victor Hryckvich
1955-2022

In January, local resident Nina Hrykvich became the Director of the Berkshire Rehabilitation & Skilled Care Center in New Boston.

She began working at the nursing home in 1978 when she was 17 starting in the kitchen. She progressed to housekeeping, then a nurse's aide.

The director at the time, Dale McCuin, who worked at the home for over 30 years, encouraged Nina to attend nursing school. Nina did, becoming an LPN then an RN. Over the years, she worked in other locations, such as Torrington Health Care and Avon Health Care in Connecticut, where she also became a director.

But she also continued to work in Sandisfield, per diem. Sandisfield was always special to Nina.

Nina returned to nursing in Sandisfield to cut back on travel time. When the position of Director opened up, she applied for it and was accepted.

In a conversation with this reporter, Nina remembered what Dale McCuin had told her years ago. "Dale told me, 'Someday you're going to be the director here,' and I said, 'Oh sure.' And now it's happened. It's a complete circle."

The rehabilitation center works closely with the Veteran's Administration and a large number of patients, all male, are veterans, often dealing with PTSD or mental issues. "There's really a lot of nice men who talk about their war years and your heart goes out to them," Nina said.

She added, "They get really good care from the nurses, Certified Nursing Assistants, and all our staff. We have monthly staff meetings, and the nurses are great."

She added, "My spirit was always here. I feel comfortable here because I'm close to home. My family has been here for four generations."

Many Years in Sandisfield

Nina's grandparents, Libby and David Pinsky, were Jews who emigrated to America because of early 1900 pogroms in Russia, first settling in the Lower East Side of Manhattan and coming to Sandisfield through the sponsorship of the Jewish Colonization Association. They owned a boarding house on Silver Brook Road where her father, Sid Pinsky, was born in 1928.

Raised in Sandisfield, Sid earned a Ph.D. from Columbia University in psychiatric social work and became a director at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York where he worked for 30 years. Her mother, Terry, a Canadian, was a professional ballet dancer who taught dance at the Manhattan School of Dance and the Joffrey Ballet in New York. After Sid's retirement, the family returned to the Sandisfield home. Her mother danced and performed at Jacob's Pillow in Becket and established the Barrington Ballet. Nina's parents, along with others in the community, worked to found the Sandisfield Arts Center. Terry died in 1991, Sid in 2015.

Nina, born in Manhattan, studied ballet and almost became a professional dancer, but was not as dedicated as her mother. She said she wanted to live in Sandisfield so she could have a farm. "We had a nice apartment in New York, but I didn't want to live there."

In Sandisfield, she married Victor Hrykvich in 1990. Like Nina, Victor was of a three-generation Sandisfield family. Dedicated to the Town, Victor served for many years as chairman of the Select Board and of the Board of Health. He died in 2022.

Nina now lives on Beech Plain Road, across the road from where she and Victor's three daughters, Nicole, Theresa, and Jessica, are upgrading the house that Victor built. Nina said, "The house is special," adding that all of the wood that went into the house came off their land and from the lumber mill that Victor's father Nick and his uncle Alex owned and operated on Rt. 8 in New Boston.

In 1978, when Nina first started working at the New Boston Nursing Home - as it was called then - the Home still accepted women as patients. Her grandmother, Libby Pinsky, became a patient.

Nina said, "I feel honored to be the director here and being with the veterans and understanding them and being a compassionate nurse and advocate. Just trying to make their life as good as it can be."

She added, "My family is still on the same land on Beech Plain Road where it all started. Our roots run deep. My daughters and I want to continue our farm and legacy here."