William Penn Life, 2018 (53. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2018-01-01 / 1. szám
Tibor s Take Mrs. Stephen Silver (Szeibert) Funeral services will be held , at 10 a.m. Monday in St. Patrick Church for Mrs. Susie Silver (Szeibert), 89, of 1011 Lakewood Ave. who died of complications and pneumonia at 1:10 a.m. Friday in St. Elizabeth Hospital. She had been ill four weeks. Mrs. Silver was born Aug. 11, 1880, in Borsod Megye, Miskolci, \ Hungary, a daughter of Anton and Susie Pruckner, came to Bridgeport, Conn., in 1901 andj to Youngstown in 1911. She was j a member of the church and of j William Penn Fraternal Association Branch 28. Her husband, Stephen, to whom she was married in 1902, died in 1936. She leaves three sons, Joseph, Anthony and Andrew, and a daughter, Mrs. Matilda Smith all of Youngstown. 10 grand children, and 12 great-grand-ChFdends may call at the Szabó' .Pi Home’5 Fifth Avenl,e Funeral Home s Chapel from 7 to 9 p m. and Sunday. Great-great-grandma Silver in the 1960s. learn that my great-great-grandmother Susie Silver came from Miskolc, Borsod County (now Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County), Hungary. She first settled in Bridgeport, Conn., in 1900, and 11 years later, moved with her husband Stephen to Youngstown, Ohio. In her obituary, she is referred to as Silver and Szeibert. Her husband was a member of the Rákóczi Aid Association, and Susie was a member of WPA Branch 28. My suggestion to the younger readers of this column is to make a New Year's resolution that if you stumble across any family papers in the form of articles or old legal documents, each should be saved, scrutinized and documented before discarding. ****************************************************************** My 2014 trip to Hungary was a wall-to-wall learning experience. Every day, I was immersed in small town culture of a western Hungarian farming region located only a few miles from the Bakony Forest. My cousins Olgi and Arpi get a daily newspaper named Napló. Although it does feature some world news, the bulk of the paper is dedicated to Hungarian national and local stories. Napló's cover page is printed in color, but the paper is not printed on Sundays or national holidays. It is part of a chain of papers that publishes in various areas, including Győr, Balatonfüred, Székesfehérvár and Veszprém. It also publishes an online version free of charge. English translation to each story/newspaper are also available. If you are from this area of Hungary or are interested in news and human interest stories of the region, I suggest you Google "Napló online" or "Veol Online." As with many Hungarian websites, a bit of navigation and trial and error are needed before you get the hang of how to use the site effectively. ****************************************************************** The 100th anniversary of World War I was commemorated in Hungary with many special programs and events. Unfortunately, dozens of battle sites, prisoner of war camps and statues honoring those who fought and died in the first Great War had been neglected and forgotten. One prime example of poor upkeep was the Csőt prisoner of war camp that operated from 1917 to 1923. It was not until the latter part of 2016 that local leaders decided to make an attempt to clean up, repair and offer informational tours of this large camp that housed Croatian, Ukrainian and Slovak prisoners. My cousins Géza and András took my brother and parents to the remote camp, now surrounded by corn fields. That April 2017 tour was a sobering encounter for several reasons. My parents became sponsors of a section of the camp's graveyard for Slovak troops. The prison camp officials buried the men/women who died during confinement by nationality. Although I was not in Hungary for the trip, I was there via Skype as my brother used his Kindle to record and later send via the Internet video of that impromptu tour. ****************************************************************** Although Halloween is an American holiday, Nov. 1, All Saints Day, is the real day to honor the dead in Hungary. Every graveyard becomes a late autumn garden of color as countless flowers and candles are laid upon the grave sites of loved ones and friends. Entire families spend hours visiting their departed relatives as small votives are lit in tribute to each of the departed. If you'd drive by a temető (cemetery) during the early evening of Nov. 1, you'd see the soft glow of thousands of flickering candles. If you have an opportunity to visit a churchyard in Hungary, please do so, anytime of the year, especially with family. This cherished tradition of gravesite touring is another excellent example of how our culture here in America differs from that of the homeland. Boldog Új Évet 2018, Tibor II Tibor Check, Jr., is a member of Branch 28 and an attorney working in Washington, D.C. Let's hear your take If you have any questions or comments about me or my column, please email me at: silverkingl937@ gmail.com, or drop me a letter in care of the William Penn Association, 709 Brighton Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15233. WILLIAM PENN LIFE 0 January 2018 0 7
