Bethlen Évkönyv, 1993-1996 (Ligonier)
Halottaink
of his fellow countrymen, his effectiveness as counselor and guide gained Molnár admiration and respect in a wide circle of church and community life. He was granted United States citizenship in the Fall of 1957. It was not long when another church requested his services. He was called and installed at the Hungarian Evangelical and Reformed Church of Dayton in January, 1958. He served that congregation faithfuly until 1965. During these years he increasingly became aware that his faculties were diminishing. Slowly and silently the torture and suffering in Hungarian and Yugoslav prisons eroded his energies and his health declined. Ultimately, his prison and labor camp experiences reduced him to a man who could not be intellectually creative. With a broken spirit he felt that under the circumstances he could no longer serve his flock and resigned the Dayton pastorate. He retrained himself, moved to New York City where he was active in the business world. While there, he served as supply pastor of the First Hungarian Reformed Church (1969-1972). Mrs. Molnár passed away in February, 1971. Shortly after that Molnár suffered a nervous breakdown from which he never recovered. Their children were cared for at the Bethlen Home where Albert spent two and Louise five years. During his last years Molnár was a resident of an institution in Far Rockaway, N.Y., where he died on March 24, 1995. The Reverend Lajos Molnár is one of the countless silent victims of inhuman treatment of this brutal, prodigal 20th century, whose life could never be rebuilt. The thorns of life wounded him deeply, the talent that God crafted into him, man’s inhumanity destroyed. His early and untimely loss as a pastor to the Hungarian Reformed Churches, and as a human being to his family and children was nothing short of tragic. Thus life of a promising, formerly creative and serving pastor has come to an end. He is survived by a daughter, Louise Molnár, and a son, Albert Steg, who was adopted by his aunt and uncle. May God give him the rest which he could not attain in this earthly pilgrimage! Rev. Dr László Kovácg Prof.Em. 462
