William Penn, 1961 (44. évfolyam, 3-16. szám)

1961-06-21 / 6. szám

June 21, 1961. PAGE 5 William Penn TIME FOR REFLECTION Bv JULIUS MACKER, President As President of our William Penn Fraternal Association, I feel that this message represents not only my thoughts and senti­ments but speaks also for the Board of Directors, the Home Of­ficers, the Auditing Committee, the Field Force, the Ladies’ Auxiliary, the Home Office Employees, in fact every member of this illustrious society. I am happy to have the privilege of writing these few words on the memorable occasion of this our William Penn Diamond Anniversary in 1961. Now I think back to that great date for us all — February 21, 1886 — when thirteen selfless and magnanimous coal miners united their similar ideals into a working reality to establish a fraternal benefit society among their fellow immigrant Hun­garians in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. None of these original be­nefactors is living today. However, they have left to us, their beneficiaries, the rich harvest of their humble plantings. They well knew that their work was only the meager beginning and that it would be many years before the fruits of their first sacrifices would become manifest. Our altruistic founders created a society not only for protection and security in their lifetime but one which would go on and on, but even they could not visualize an organization of such magnitude as the William Penn Fraternal Association seventy-five years later. I wish our founders were present to read these humble words of tribute and gratitude to them, to know that we — the entire membership — proudly salute those 1293 living members of the William Penn Fraternal Association who have been members fifty or more years. May the Lord grant these very much honored long-time members the health and strength to remain with us for many years to come as inspiring reminders of the combined past-present greatness of our beloved society. In the notable progress of our Association much of the credit therefore goes to our many branch officers, particularly our branch managers. It is quite true that in the past this latter class of branch officers, then known as branch secretaries, were responsible for the lion’s share of enrolling new members. For this reason I give honor to all our past branch secretaries and present branch managers, deserving men and women. Now the burden of this all-important fraternal function is borne largely by our full-time Field Force Men who are loyally and vigorously pursuing the best interest of our Association. It is meet and proper that I recall names of such now de­ceased leaders as Stephen Gabor, Supreme Secretary; Joseph Darago, Supreme President; John Korosfoy, Vice President and Director; Michael J. Varga, Supreme Treasurer — these of the Verhovay — and Rákóczi officers Stephen Varga, Supreme Pres­ident; Bela Kocsis, Director; Gabriel Horvath, Supreme Controller. Within the past twenty years we have lost such well-known Directors as Frank J. Brogley, Bértalan Kun, Albert B. Ari, Jo­seph Turner and Alexander Gyulay. And lét us never forget the revered memory of those young members who paid the supreme sacrifice during World War II for that great nation which became the new home for their parents and grandparents. Yes, 343 Verhovay and Rákóczi youth­ful members shed their blood to uphold and continue the ideals and principles on which this country was founded. The Association’s most recent sorrow was the sudden death Of my immediate predecessor, Coloman Revesz, on January 13, 1961. President Revesz had devoted twenty-nine years of his life in the service of the Verhovay and the William Penn, ever striv­ing to further the greatness and prestige of the society he served, and whose varied activities embraced practically every phase and scope of Hungarian American life and interests. Let us ever be aware of the debt of gratitude we shall always owe to our deceased founders and leaders. But while we mourn our departed leaders we rejoice in our still living William Penn, Verhovay, Rákóczi, etc. men of vision. We honor and pay tribute to Coloman Kolozsvary, Andrew Fejes, John Bozsvay, Joseph Szalay, Presidents of the former Verhovay; Albert Kocsis, President of the former Rákóczi; Henry Gross, who was President when the Workingmen’s Sick Benefit Federation merged with the Verhovay Fraternal Insurance Association; Honorary President John Bencze, former Verhovay President; John Szalanczy, former Verhovay Treasurer; Stephen Kundrath, former Rákóczi Treasurer; and Joseph Vasas, for many years Secretary of the former Rákóczi Aid Association. What our society has accomplished in the past seventy-five years is an amazing record indeed. Our founders in 1886 had assets of $17.25! Today our assets are some $29,000,000!! Our founders and their early successors in their most vivid dreams and most optimistic hopes never visualized a growth and pro« gress such as this. We, the Board of Directors and Officers, aim to do our individual and collective best in maintaining the high standards of protection and security offered by the William Penn Fraternal Association, to strike out in search of even greater achieve­ments, to follow the modern line so as never to lose the force and appeal of this greatest of the Hungarian American, fraternal benefit organizations — but NEVER to drop the spirit and practice of our best sales slogan; “BUSINESS WITH A HEART.” A Progressive Society Must Have A Basis By LOUIS L. VARGA, Chairman of the Board of Directors and First Vice President Seventy-five years is a long­time in the history of any or­ganization. For an organiza­tion to last this period of time, its fundamental thoughts must be basically correct and moral­ly sound else it will not be able to stand the test of time. Who were the people who establish­ed this organization? What did they believe? We are familiar with our early American history and the period of immigration to this country, of the English, the Dutch, the French and the Spaniards. First and foremost they came here for freedom, political freedom, religious freedom, freedom of opportu­nity and the establishment of the principles of the dignity of man. The Hungarians came later, but for the same con­secrated objectives. Hungarian influence in America has been felt since our own Revolution. We know of the squadron of Hungarian Hussars and the valor of Michael de Kovats, Colonel Commandant in the Pulaski Legion. America, the advocate and defender of human rights and freedom, sympathized with Louis Kossuth’s cause and the cause of the liberty-loving Hungarian people. On Decem­ber 12, 1849 our great Abra­ham Lincoln, then a Congress­man from Springfield, Illinois, presented a resolution to Con­gress; “Resolved: that in their pre­sent glorious struggle for li­berty the Hungarians command our highest admiration and have our warmest sympathy. Resolved: that they have our most ardent prayers for their speedy triumph and final suc­cess. Resolved: that the Go­vernment of the United States should acknowledge the Inde­pendence of Hungary as a na­tion of free men.” The Hungarian emigration started shortly after the fail­ure of Kossuth’s revolt and the Hungarians brought with them a culture and history en­riched by the achievements of many generations over hun­dreds of years. Nowhere does the love of freedom glow more intensely than in the hearts of men and women of this fa­mous and ancient land. Even though now Hungary has been, victimized by the power of Soviet tyranny — the gallant spirit of Hungary can not re­main in shadow and will not be crushed by godless tyrants. The organizers of our Wil­liam Penn Fraternal Associa­tion had this spirit and back­ground, and after having es­tablished their homes and fa­milies in this country they soon thought of fraternity, charity and mutual aid. They were humble miners and la­borers yet they created a fra­ternal order that has lasted and grown for seventy-five years, and it will last indefi­nitely because it is based on the Christian philosophy of the brotherhood of man. It is to the credit of our leaders that we have grown to almost ninety thousand mem­bers and thirty million dollars in assets. This was brought about by the foresight of our enlightened leadership, when the Verhovay and the Rákóczi merged six years ago. Many of us are members i>f the second and third generations and we are proud of our heritage and of these leaders who worked with devotion and dedication toward the building of this so­ciety. The fruits of their la­bors are visible in the schools and churches and social quart­ers they built. I pray God will give us the strength, courage and wisdom to maintain and further develop them. Our late and beloved Coloman Révész said, “We changed our name but not our hearts.” We welcome all you non­members to join our organiza­tion because we have a heri­tage and history and a spirit which we wish to share with others. Let us face the future with confidence and courage, with our heads raised high and our sights on a progres­sive and honorable future. V On this 75th Anniversary we will remember the lessons of our forefathers whose in­tentions were not for the pre­sent or for themselves alone, We must look ahead. The fu­ture is our concern and more interesting because it is so un­predictable.

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