ADVERTISING

Miluse Ann (Koenig) Mina

Obituaries | The Tube City Almanac | August 11, 2025

Miluse Ann (Koenig) Mina, dame of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem, passed away peacefully at her home in San Diego, CA on Wednesday August 6, 2025. She was born on February 13, 1928, in the city of Brno, Czechia into a family of Czech-Austrian gentry. Miluse’s father was an officer in the Austrian Imperial Army and after the Great War a high-ranking government official and decorated hero of the Czech anti-Nazi resistance. Upon graduating from high school in 1946, Miluse enrolled at Charles University in Prague. The country was in turmoil as the communists were undermining the coalition government. Miluse attracted the attention of the secret police by stumping communist speakers at political meetings with her incisive arguments. Miluse was forced to flee her country after the February 1948 communist takeover. She arrived in Paris, where she soon met her future husband Albert Mina (Minya), a Ruthenian graduate student in botany and a fellow exile. The couple were married the following year, and in 1950 Miluse gave birth to a son John (Ivan). After moving from France to the United States, Miluse gave birth to three more children: Peter (1955), Michael (1957) and Maria Paula (1960).

Settling in California in 1959, the family joined St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Church in Van Nuys, CA. Learning of her artistic talent, the pastor asked Miluse to paint the icons for his church. Miluse went on to adorn over fifty churches with icons in the United States, Canada and Europe. Since 1988, Miluse and her husband lived in San Diego, CA. Albert passed away in 2009. Besides her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents the late Vaclav and Emilia (Hendrych) Koenig. Miluse is survived by her children John (Father Ivan), Peter, Michael (his wife Diana), Maria Paula, and a grandson Nicholas.

Friends will be received at the A.J. Bekavac Funeral Home, 555 Fifth Street, Clairton, PA 15025 on Friday, August 15, 2025, from 5 PM to 7PM until the Parastas service at 7PM. A Panachida service will be the funeral home on Saturday, August 16, 2025 at 9 AM followed by a Funeral Liturgy at 10 AM in Ascension of Our Lord Byzantine Catholic Church, Clairton Procession and interment to follow at Mount St. Macrina Byzantine Catholic Cemetery in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Arrangements made by the A.J. Bekavac Funeral Home (412) 233-5700 www.bekavacfuneralhome.com

Originally published August 11, 2025.

Other deaths:
"Florence (Banyas) Sze…" ||