Bethlen Évkönyv, 1993-1996 (Ligonier)
Halottaink
In his happily married new life here he lived in perfect harmony with Mária for the length of 38 years. The last two decades of married life was overshadowed by his wife’s illness for whom he himself provided day and night nursing care with exemplary love and devotion. His wife died a fortnight the Christmas of 1994. He attended her funeral at the church in a hospital wheelchair connected to an oxygenator. He himself entered into eternal life on the 2nd day of January, 1995. He who served the Lord faithfully will be rewarded by the Lord graciously! Dr. Stephen Szabó Rev. ALEXANDER SILAY 1903-1995 He was unique in several ways; small by stature but great in spirit. In the New World where everybody is moving around, he stayed in the same congregation for a half century, probably the longest among Hungarian ministers. He was one of the few pastors whose ministry successfully reconciled the “old” and the “new”; immigrants and Americans became brethren in the church he served. He was born in Magyarnemegye, Erdély, now Romania, on July 27th, 1903 and was the youngest child among twelve children of hard working parents. He received his diploma from the Reformed Theological Seminary, Kolozsvár (Cluj). His good grades earned him a scholarship and in 1928 he continued his theological studies at the Lancester Theological Seminary, Lancaster, PA where a Bachelor of Divinity was conferred upon him. On September 1st, 1929 he started his ministry in Daisytown, PA, not far from Pittsburgh, serving coal miners, steel mill workers, and other hard working laborers. In 1930 he earned a Master of Theology degree from the Western Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh. The beginning was humble and soon he had to face the years of depression together with the members of the congregation. He served not only as a pastor among the people but also as a teacher, helper, organizer, friend 466
