Fraternity-Testvériség, 1944 (22. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1944-02-01 / 2. szám
TESTVÉRISÉG 7 phen Molnár heard of the great American nation which offered opportunities to all men for developing their inherent powers and achieving success in all spheres of human endeavor. When at the age of sixteen he set his feet on Americas’s shores, ,there opened up for him a world of possibilities in which his great soul could best express itself in rendering service to God through the people he loved. Shortly after his arrival in America there came the call of the downtrodden, the oppressed people of another nation, who groaned under the heel of the oppressors. The spirit of Rákóczi, Petőfi and Kossuth in Stephen Molnár heard the call and gladly responded when he volunteered and fought in the Spanish American war, serving valiantly with Battery R., U. S. Artillery. Having served his country and the cause of humanity, he returned to Toledo, and became a member of its police force. Here he served with distinction and outstanding ability. Here he demonstrated again that he was the embodiment of the best in Magyar life. Faithful to his duties, honorable, kindly, just, understanding, sympathetic, he rose from the ranks to the honor of a leiutenancy. He became a devoted husband and father. No man loved more deeply, nor showed greater devotion to wife and children, than he. Stephen Molnár stood out from the ordinary run of men not only physically, but mentally, morally anad spiritually. The hoary head was for him a crown of glory for he found it on the way to righteousness. His second great love beside his love for wife and family, was the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America. Into its service he put all he was and all he had. He loved it, because through it he could best serve the people who stood closest to his heart, the Magyars of America. He loved his people and walked humbly with his God! His humility was most impressive. In thinking of him I saw a picture of Moses after coming down from the mount. Having found that Israel had sinned against God, he bowed down before God and prayed, “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.” Stephen Molnár knew the virtue of self-effacement. He associated himself not only with the virtues, but the faults of his people and with them he would rise or fall, live or die. He believed in his people. He saw them progressing toward a better condition of life through the contribution he could personally make for them. Into the flesh of his heart were engraved the great truths of his faith and his great career he gave evidence of righteous living. He loved his family deeply. The abundance of that love overflowed into the life of the Magyar people of America. Unknown thousands of men, women anad children were made re- cepients of the fruits of that love. The twenty- three thousand members of the Hungarian Reformed Federation bless his name for the comfort and help that through him have come to make life sweeter, more bearable, happy. He lifted up the fallen, bound up the wounds of the sufferors, wiped away the tears of those who wept. His was the compassionate heart. The hoary head is a crown of glory if it be found in the way of righteousness. Stephen Molnár played a prominent role in the life of Magyar America. His wisdom often guided the ship of its destiny over troubled waters. When the passions of men threatened it with catastrophe, he was the lightning rod which took up the bolt, and his great and understanding heart gave the direction to the storm tossed ship to the haven of security. There is inestimable beauty in the setting sun. Artist have in all ages tried to catch that glory and set it on canavas. There is an afterglow in which is radiated all the colors that make up the blessed light and lifegiving warmth contained within it. To-day as we pay our tribute and homage to the memory of Stephen Molnár, there stands out in relief the beauty of his character. In the service of his God he gave himself to America, his community, his family and that greater family: the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America. He has left us an example to follow, an example of selfless service. For him “The hoary head was a crown of glory.” May we too find it in the way of righteousness, for it — and it alone — is the way to eternal life! TESTÜLETEK BÚCSÚJA Az angol beszéd után, igy szóllottak a búcsúszavak a különböző testületek képviselőinek aj akár ól: Toledo város, Lucas county Henessey sheriff, aki valamikor mint közrendőr Molnár hadnagy alatt indult el közéleti pályáján, vallomást tett a gyülekezet előtt, hogy atyai barátjának mennyit köszönhetett s aki máshol is elmondott beszédeiben nem egyszer elmondotta, hogy ha tekintélyes közéleti vezető ember lehetett belőle, azt főképen Molnár Istvánnak köszönheti, aki először kezdett
