Victor Strazhnik

1944 – 2023

With profound feelings of both grief and gratitude, we announce the passing of our loved father and husband, Victor Strazhnik. He passed away at age 79 in his home on July 8, 2023.

Victor was born to Samuel and Ida Strazhnik north of the Arctic Circle in the Soviet Union. Victor’s earliest memories were of reindeer in the snow. 

His family soon moved to Moscow, where he proved to be a gifted student in school. Victor began a mandatory term in the Soviet Army at the age of 19, serving as a radar specialist for three years. Following his service, he returned to Moscow and focused his intellect on computers, continuing his education and finding work as a programmer at a time most people in his home country had never even seen a computer.

On a fateful May Day holiday in 1969, he met Svetlana Naimark (now known as Lana). She had traveled to Moscow to visit family from a distant rural village where she taught English. Four weeks later—after spending less than three days together—Victor stepped off a train in her village and proposed. As Victor would explain later with a cheeky smile, “When you see a good deal, you take it!”

Victor and Lana married and lived together in Moscow, starting a family. During this time, Victor, a voracious reader, taught himself English by reading science fiction novels.

While the U.S.S.R. offered little room for spiritual life, Victor was a deeply religious man. Though culturally Jewish, he forged a deep connection to the Bible. His desire for religious and economic freedom led him and Lana to make the most momentous decision of their lives—they would attempt to emigrate from the Soviet Union. In 1982, they applied for exit visas but were quickly punished for their dream when Lana was fired from her job. For two years, they struggled to make ends meet as their visa applications remained in limbo, unanswered. 

Then, just as the Cold War began to thaw, their applications were unexpectedly granted. In 1985, Victor and his family packed their photo albums and left the country, unsure if they would ever be allowed to see their relatives again. After several weeks in Italy, the family secured entry visas to America, and soon stepped off the plane in New York City.

The adjustment to life in the US was not easy, but Victor quickly found work as a programmer while the family adapted to life in Brooklyn. In 1990, Victor and Lana moved to New Jersey, eventually settling in the town of Cranford, where they would live for 26 years. During this time, Victor authored two books in Russian documenting his studies of scripture as a Messianic Jew. He approached biblical analysis with the same rigorous methodology he had applied throughout his career in technology. In retirement, Victor would turn his mind toward reading and teaching himself Hebrew.

To be closer to their daughter and her husband on the West Coast, Victor and Lana moved to Portland, Oregon in 2018. Victor appreciated the clean Portland air, but most of all he enjoyed escaping the bitter New Jersey winters. Victor continued to write—his most recent book, Jewish Perspectives on the New Testament, was written in English and published in February of 2023. 

Though Victor is gone, his legacy of faith, critical thinking, and love continue on through his writings and in the memories of his family.

Victor is survived by his wife Lana Strazhnik, his daughter Inna-Marie Strazhnik, and his son-in-law Andrew Schauer. Victor was laid to rest at Lone Fir Cemetery in Portland, Oregon.