Magyar News, 2000. szeptember-2001. augusztus (11. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2001-06-01 / 10. szám
Paul Kurmay at the mike in the mines. What made him different then the other miners was that he would entertain singing for them. An unfortunate collapse of the mine caused his father to be seriously hurt. So the elder Kurmay turned to tobacco farming. The young Kurmay left his family and the tobacco field to go to Bridgeport because he learned that they had a large Hungarian population there. He found work at the Singer Company. During this time Paul expanded his musical activities and played clarinet in the company’s band. He met a Hungarian girl, Bertha Santa, and in an enterprising fashion he married her within three weeks. Bertha had three sisters and one brother; Anna was married to John Lesko, Funeral Director; Mary worked for the Warner Bros. Company; Margaret later married Stephen Bognár; and Elizabeth became Sister Mary Ladislaus, a St. Joseph nun for over sixty years. Brother Stephen married Madelyn Farley, Society Editor of the Bridgeport newspaper, and later founded the thriving Santa Fuel Company. In our local community the Kurmays kept on doing more and more exciting things. Paul and Bertha opened a grocery store in the West Side. This gave them opportunity to start a family. During this time Ethel and Frank were bom. Paul went to night school to complete his education and improve his English. Not giving up his talent Paul also took voice lessons. Before the war the Kurmay family moved to Black Rock where they opened a grocery store on Grovers Avenue. At this time MaryBeth was bom. Paul joined the Bullard Company on a part time basis. As On a snowy day this past winter the mailman rang the bell to deliver an express mail package. Since I wasn’t expecting anything, I was curious to find out what was in it. To my amusement there were Hungarian gramophone records in it. Trying to clear my confusion away, I carefully looked and found a note written by Shirley Bodie Finley from Georgia. She wanted to donate the records to the Hungarian Library. As I scanned through them, I found a few very special pieces. They were labeled as “VENDÉGLŐ RECORDS" Broadway, New York. Among the information on them there were two names. Kurmay Pal singer, and accompanist Erdőss és Vendéglő Zenekar. This wet my appetite and right away I started to expand my research. First was to find out who Pal Kurmay was. This was the easy part, as it turned out he was the grandfather of Judge Paul Kurmay of Stratford. To cut it short Ifound singer Pal Kurmay s son Frank, and daughters Ethel Nielson and MaryBeth Mercurio. After some discussions between the family members Ethel received the chore to write about her father, and MaryBeth had to collect the pictures. (Editor) This is what Ethel had to say: “Paul Emery Kurmay was born February 1896 in Legyesbénye, in the Tokaj region of Hungary where his father had been a Huszár (Cavalry officer) in the Hungarian army. When he was 11 years old, he and his parents came to the U.S. His parents chose West Virginia where Paul's father tried coal mining. As a young man Paul would work and help his father Paul helping out in the restaurant The wedding picture of Paul Kurmay and Bertha Santa. Right, standing.Anna Lesko. Little child on left: John Lesko, grandfather of Kevin and John, present funeral directors. Sitting next to him is Steve Santa, founder of fuel company. Page 6
