Verhovayak Lapja, 1945 (28. évfolyam, 1-52. szám)

1945 / Verhovay Journal

Page 4

Verhovay Journal

Journal of the Verhovay Fraternal Insurance Ass’n OFFICE OF PUBLICATION

8502 West Jefferson Ave. Detroit 17, Mich.

PUBLISHED SEMI-MONTHLY BY THE Verhovay Fraternal Insurance Association

Managing Editor: JOHN BENCZE Editor: COLOMAN REVESZ Editor’s Office:

345 FOURTH AVENUE ROOM 805 PITTSBURGH 22, PA.

All articles and changes of address should be sent to the VERHOVAY FRATERNAL INSURANCE ASSOCIATION 345 FOURTH AVENUE, PITTSBURGH 22, PA.

SUBSCRIPTION RATES:

United States and Canada --------------------------------$1.00 a year

Foreign Countries _____________________________$1.50 a year

ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT: P. O. BOX 7, WOOLSEY STATION — LONG ISLAND CITY 5, N. Y.

Entered as Second Class Matter at the Post Office at Detroit, Michigan under the Act of March 3, 1879.

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

NEW DISTRICT OPENED

The Supreme President of the Verhovay Fraternal Insurance Association announces herewith that a new organizing District of the Association has been formed, covering the State of California as of April 1st, 1945. In accordance with the decision made by the Board of Directors in regards to the new District, which shall he known as the Ninth District, Mr. Alexander Gyulay, former Supreme Organizer and before that District Manager in Detroit, Mich., had been appointed District Manager in California.

District Manager Alexander Gyulay has already arrived in California, at his home, 1402 Haynes Street, Van Nuys, California, and is ready to contact all the members of our Association residing in California and also those who are interested in the protection and fraternal service rendered by our organization.

We urge all our fellow-members and friends in the State of California, to contact Mr. Gyulay in all matters pertaining to the Association and also, to support him in his endeavours to secure new members for the Verhovay and to form branches in the State of California.

MANAGER FOR DISTRICT II. APPOINTED

The attention of all members, officers and branches, operating in the Second District, is called to the fact that Mr. Viktor Austerlitz, a member of our Association, had been appointed District Manager as of April 1, 1945. Mr. Austerlitz is now on his way to visit all branches! and to call on their officers, who are requested to render assistance to the newly appointed District Manager and to support him in his work with the aim to extend the fraternal protection of the Verhovay to as many new members, as possible.

Fraternally,

JOHN BENCZE, Supreme President.

NEWS from the FIELD

BUFFALO BR. 383 OFFICERS HONORED WITH RESPONSIBLE POSITIONS

Fraternalism, on which volumes have been written of what it has to offer, again proves that those who take an active interest in its functions and welfare, gain a world of experience in human nature responsibility, that gives in time assured confidence of leadership. Holding o/fice in a fraternal organization, being reelected to office again and again means only one thing, that your constituents have faith in the ability, trust worthiness of your actions and that you have gained the respect of the community.

Pres. Joseph S. Taylor, and Br. Mgr. and Treasurer Charles A. Young of Buffalo, N.Y. have been officers in Br. 383 for the past few years ..and identified with many

outstanding ..fraternal and civic affairs of the city.

Mr. Young, local organizer of the Branch, was appointed as auditor to the Buffalo Dupont Workers Independent Union, that represents the welfare of the Buffalo Dupont Employees, and has recently declined a nomination for presidency of the union, because of his fraternal and Buffalo Hirado work obligations, and the essential war job in the Works Engineering Dept, of the company.

Mr. Taylor, was unanimously elected treasurer of the newly formed Buffalo Hungarian Relief Inc. Chapter 34, which is proving the biggest and most successful undertaking by the American Hungarian people of the Niagara Frontier. The first fraternal organization to present a substantial check to the Chapter was Buffalo, Br. 383, which has given the leaders of the drive

Verhovay Journal

April 11, 1945

an assurance of success in as much that the majority of the members are of the second generation, who have not seen the land of their fore fathers, and with true American democracy are aiding their unfortunate cousins.

PORTRAIT PRESENTATIONS Several branches are prepairing to hold memorial celebrations in the honor of those of their members who have made the Supreme Sacrifice. At each of these occasions a Supreme Officer of our Association will represent the membership of the Verhovay F. I. Association and present the portraits of the heroic dead to their bereaved families. The following is the schedule of the memorial celebrations and portrait presentations to be held in the nearest future.

EAST CHICAGO, IND. BRANCH 130.

APRIL 15 SUNDAY Branch 130, East Chicago, Ind., will celebrate its 35th anniversary on the above date. At this occasion the portrait of Joseph Halai, heroic dead member of the Verhovay will be presented to his mother, Mrs. Frank Halai. In the morning of the same day Holy Mass will be offered in behalf of this hero by the Rev. Fr. Joseph Sipos which will be attended by the membership of the Branch. Following the Mas, the membership of the Branch will proceed to the Heroe’s Memorial Statue, where Mrs. Frank Halai will place a wreath in memory of her son.

Supreme Secretary Coloman Révész will represent the Home Office and the Verhovay Fraternal Insurance Association at this important occasion and present to Mrs. .Halai the portrait of her late son. All soldier-members of the Branch who may happen to he on furlough on that day, are requested to attend the ceremonies, thereby paying tribute to their comrade who gave his life for his country.

PITTSBURGH PA BRANCH 34 APRIL 22, SUNDAY A memorial celebration will he held on the above date in the Verhovay Home Branch 34, Flowers Avenue, in Hazelwood. Two portraits ..will be presented at this occasion in the memory of the two heroic dead members of this branch Zoltán Hodermarszky and Julius Malok The Supreme Officers will attend this occasions at which the editor of this Journal will serve as Master of Ceremonies upon request of Branch 3'4. A fine program will complete the evening and tea will be served to the guests who will come to pay tribute to the heroic dead of this Branch and to their bereaved families.

LORAIN, O.

MAY 13 SUNDAY Under the leadership of Branch 17, the branches in Lorain, O. and vicinity will hold a joint memorial celebration at which five heroes’ pictures will he presented ter the families of these heroic dead. Supreme President John Bencze and Vice-President Joseph Szalay will attend the celebration and' present the portraits to the bereaved families in behalf of the membership of the Association. WHITES VILLE, W. VA. BRANCH 482.

Not only the members of Branch 482, but all citizens of Whitesville, W.Va., are prepairing for the memorial celebration at which the portrait of James Gyovay will be presented to the family of this hero. No date had been set yet for this celebration as, according to the plans, it shall be held when the brother of the late James Gyovay, (Continued on Page 5)

I They Gave Their Lives

SAD DUTIES

A letter came the other day from Mr. Joseph Cibolya, local organizer and manager .of* Branch 174, Scranton, Pa., which we consider one of the most deeply moving expressions of fraternal sympathy and brotherly understanding we ever had the privilege of reading. Mr. Cibolya wrote the letter after having received two reports of Verhovay ans killed in action on the same day. Deeply shocked by the double tragedy, he sat down to make his report ... a report that had tears in it ... a report that contains all the sincere sorrow Verhovayans feel when the dreaded yellow telegram is received by one of their friends. The letter follows . . .

* * *

'‘Sad, indeed, are the duties of a Verhovay manager, nowadays. On the third of March I visited Branch 42 in Throop, Pa., and in the course of my work I called on, the Kobar family at 14 Charles Street. Six brothers and sisters have grown up in this home, under the care of Mary, after they had lost their father 16 years ago- and their mother 8 years ago.

“I knocked at the door and a woman’s voice replied quietly: “Come in.” Entering, I stopped . . . seeing the three sisters, Mary, Rosella and Barbara sitting at the table on which a burning candle was placed ... and near the candle I noticed, the yellow telegram. I understood. Silently I took the telegram and read it. “Dear Miss Kobar—it said—it is with regret that I am writing to .inform you of the death of your brother, Private Steve J. Kobar, Infantry, who was killed in action on February 18, 1945, in Germany. The report now received states that he had returned to duty on January 16, after recovering from previously sustained wounds.”

Finding-it difficult to break the silence, I finally managed to suppress my tears and to explain to them the steps that are to be taken in the matter of his death benefit and then I left quietly to continue my trip.

At about half past seven on the same evening someone knocked at my door. I thought, somebody may have found out that I had already returned and opened the door. My unexpected visitor was an old friend and fellow-member of mine, George Lukach Senior, whom I haven’t seen for years as he left Scranton a number of years ago for Plainfield, N. J., due to decreasing earning possibilities in Scranton. He was too moved to say much and after softly spoken greeting and hand-shake he remained silent. I offered him a chair and sitting down he reached into his pocket and handed me a telegram. Again I read: “Dear Mr. Lukach, Sr., it is with deep regret that I inform you of the death of your son, Private First Class George Lukach, Jr., Infantry, who was killed in action on February 23, 1945, in Germany.”

That was too much for one day. We sat silently for some time before we could find words . . . After explaining to him the procedure, my friend Lukach left. Six members of his family belong to Branch 174, while nine of the twelve Kobars are members of Branch 42.”

* * *

132. STEPHEN J. KOBAR

All of the six Kobar brothers serve with the armed forces. Pvt. Peter Kobar, 19, was wounded in action on November 18, in Germany but had recently returned to combat duty. Sgt. Paul L. Kobar, 33, who has served as an aviation ordnance man in the European area three and one-half years and recently returned to this country on furlough, is believed to have returned overseas. Pfc. Colman Kobar, 28, is in the Marianas with an anti-aircraft unit. Petty Officer 1/C John J. Kober, 27, a ship’s cook and S. 1/C Julius J. Kobar, 25, both serve in the Pacific area.

Stephen Kobar, the 132nd fatal casualty of the Verhovay, a former student of Throop High School, was employed by the Erie Railroad in Jersey City and then by the Condenser Service and Engineering Company in Scranton, Pa. He entered the aririy in June, 1944, received his training at Camp Blanding, Fla., was taken overseas within six months, in December. He was wounded in Germany on January 12, and after returning to his unit, met his death on February 18th.

Also surviving Stephen Kobar are six sisters: Mrs. Herman Brugger, Detroit, Mich., Mrs. Michael Daskalakis, Brooklyn, N. Y-, Catherine Kobar, New York City, and Mary, Rosella and Barbara at home.

Stephen Kobar, the first heroic dead member of Branch 42, was the 52nd Verhovayan to lose his life in Western Europe.

133. PFC. GEORGE LUKACH, JR.

George Lukach, Jr., too, was brought up in Throop, Pa., until the family left for Plainfield, N. J., where he worked as a machinist until December, 1942, when he was inducted He was taken overseas a year ago, participated in the invasion, was decorated several times for valor in action until he met a heroes’ end on February 23rd, in Germany. He is the second heroic dead member of Branch 174, and the 53rd fatal casualty of the Verhovay on the front in Western Europe.

He is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Lukach, Sr., hjs brother John, somewhere in Italy, two other brothers, Andrew and Paul and a sister, Ann, at home.

The sorrow of both of these families is shared by all Verhovayans. May they find some measure of comfort in the assuran.ee that their heroes have made a great contribution to the victory achieved by our armies.