William Penn Life, 2006 (41. évfolyam, 2-12. szám)
2006-12-01 / 12. szám
Branching Out with Endre Csornán Experience Profiles, Part 4 A look at some of the people who make our Hungarian Heritage Experience a truly wonderful experience What follows is another in our series of profiles of some of the members who attended the Hungarian Heritage Experience at Penn Scenic View. We hope you will enjoy reading abou t their lives as much as we enjoyed their presence and participation. ROSEMARY JENCSO BALAZS According to my two Hungarian great aunts, my sister and I were the product of a mixed marriage. They were upset that my father, George, from a good Hungarian family, had married my mother, who was Croatian. In 1935, my parents met at work in a GM factory in the Cleveland area. They married in 1936 but delayed their family a few years because of tight finances during the Depression. Eventually, my father got a good job at ALCOA, and so my sister was bom in 1940.1 followed in 1941 to complete our family unit. We hardly saw our father in those first years because he worked 12 hours a days, seven days a week during the war. Because of his superb Hungarian understanding of all things mechanical, ALCOA promoted him and had him deferred from the service so he could keep the machinery running to make airplanes for the war effort. Meanwhile, my mother stayed home where she cared for my sister and me. We had a very good childhood, as many children of immigrants did. We were always loved, warm, well-fed and had medical care when needed-just what all children deserve. We were expected to do well in school, and we did. My father's extended family always celebrated the holidays in true Hungarian fashion with all their favorite (oods—töltött káposzta, tyukleves with tészta and csirke paprikás. The women were excellent bakers, making mákos and diós kalács and many delicious tortes and pastries for all our family parties. They also did various traditional kézimunka in their spare time, such as sewing, embroidery, knitting and crocheting. My mother had also learned these same skills from her mother and so she taught my sister and me to bake, sew, embroider and crochet. (She didn't like knitting.) Being true magyar-horvát, we both loved to do this handwork and learned many other crafts over the years. After high school, I attended college for a year but quit to help my father start up his new business. I did the paperwork, and still do to this day. In 1962,1 met and married Paul Balazs, a full-blooded Hungarian who was also born and raised in the Cleveland area. After the birth of my first son, I went back to college, had another baby boy, and, eight years later, earned a degree in art education. Art teachers were not in demand during those years, so I worked as a substitute teacher to utilize my hardearned teaching skills. One day, a friend and I went to a town meeting and became interested in politics. Thus began my career in the public sector, first as the zoning secretary in our town for four years, then as an elected official for six years. I worked hard at these jobs and was noticed by the local electric company, which hired me to work with local governments. This was a very demanding but exciting and rewarding job that I enjoyed very much. After 11 years, I was offered early retirement in 1998. After retiring, I signed up for Hungarian language classes at the local community college. This led to many new friends and activities. I joined a Hungarian genealogy club "to find my roots" and discovered a fantastic Hungarian museum in Cleveland, where I volunteered on occasion. While still working, I traveled to Germany and the Czech Republic in 1993 with friends, and to Hong Kong in 1995 and China in 1997 with another friend. The travel bug had bitten! In 2000,1 was invited to go to Brazil with friends. Of course, I went, but my new dream trip was to go to Hungary. So, in 2001,1 coaxed three other ladies from my class to go there with me. There I found my father's first cousin, Gizelle, who was astounded that I had come to Hungary to find some cousins. After that trip, I corresponded in Hungarian with her and her daughter, my second cousin, Tünde, who invited me to come back and visit her. So, in 2004,1 went to Hungary on a tour but took a side trip to visit Tünde. They treated us like family and showed us the sights around Miskolc. Last year, I took a genealogy tour to Croatia, the land where my mother was bom. Croatia, originally part of old Hungary, is a beautiful country. I plan to return in October to see more and maybe find some cousins, too. I also hope to go back to Hungary in 2007 to visit my Hungarian cousins again. After all my years of studying Hungarian, I hope I can converse much better with them this time; and in return for their gracious hospitality, I hope they will consider visiting me here someday. |wpl| William Penn Life, December 2006 3
