Bethlen Almanac 1998 (Ligonier)

Halottaink - In memoriam

of scholarships to Lancaster Seminary, with an initial contribution of $100,000. First preference for the Sziarto scholarship is students of Hungarian descent preparing for the ministry.

He died on April 1, 1998 in Slanesville, West Virginia, just one month after the death of his son, Stephen F. Sziarto.

Rev. Sziarto is survived by his wife Margaret Nagy Sziarto and a daughter Margaret S. Mattia.

Julius Vigh, Sr.

(1909-1998)

Bom as Vigh Gyula in Maglód, Hungary, he was married in 1933 to Margit. They left Hungary in 1945 with 4 children. They spent 5 years in Germany working their way westward and had 3 more children. Having been sponsored by the Christian Reformed Church, they left Germany by ship in 1950 and landed in New York 9 days later. They arrived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where they established residency. The whole family became U.S. citizens in 1956 and Americanized their first names, and thus Gyula became Julius.

Although he never returned to Hungary, over the years he brought several relatives to the U.S. for visits. He has only one niece and one nephew still surviving in Hungary.

In the U.S., he worked in the manufacturing industry until retirement in 1974. He was very active in the Hungarian community locally and worldwide. He bought Hungarian books and publications from a variety of countries (Brazil, Argentina and Australia to name a few), and also corresponded worldwide with individuals he had never met. According to his wishes, all his Hungarian books, newspapers and phonograph records were donated to the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America, which he faithfully served for more than three decades as Manager of Branch 181.

He specialized himself in Hungarian sausage making, and he even constructed his own smokehouse. Throughout the years, he would always send his sausages to the staff at the Kossuth House in Washington, D.C. for Christmas.

He lost a son in December of 1966 to the war in Vietnam. In 1985, he lost his wife of 51 years. He was in remarkable good health for most of his life. He spent the last two years of his life comfortably and well attended to in a nursing home, succumbing to pneumonia just days short of his 89th birthday.

Joan Kathy Vigh, daughter

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