Djuro “George” Dragisich was born on June 21, 1920 into a Serbian Orthodox family in the village of Torbicki Vagan in an area of Lika that more often than not reared virtuous and heroic men and women and faithful Serbian Orthodox Christians. This was an area in the Srpska Krajina called Tromedja, which means tri-border, and was located where Bosna, Lika and Dalmacija all meet. This was a predominately Serbian Orthodox area in what was to become Catholic Croatia. Djuro served as a Chetnik under General Draza Mihailovic and Vojvoda Momcilo Djujic during WWII.
The establishment of the + Djuro Dragisich Memorial Fund at Holy Resurrection Cathedral is due to the many generous memorials that all of Djuro’s friends, kumovi and relatives gave in his name. Djuro spent his entire life living as a true Serbian Orthodox Christian and helping his people, exemplifying “rodoljubstvo”, and this was acknowledged and recognized by those whose lives he touched.
The hope is that this fund can serve as a continued memorial and reminder of how a man from a simple background and from a life of extreme hardship was able to, by honest hard work and genuine integrity, establish himself so that he could aid others who were still under hardship and also aid in the establishing, building and maintaining of churches in the Homeland and in the Diaspora and thereby humbly impact the spreading and maintaining of the Serbian Orthodox people and faith. May his memory be eternal in God’s heavenly Kingdom.