Michael and Elizabeth Vekasi
Although born in Nagy-Szelmenc, Ung Megye, Hungary, Mike Vekasi came to America when young and almost all of his childhood memories were of Donora, Pennsylvania. There he had a meager education but a wide assortment of life experiences. He was about twenty-one when he came to Gary, Indiana, with his parents, Peter and Julianna (Pataki) Vekasi, to whom he was devoted. Most of his life he worked as a crane operator in the open hearth but he also liked to tell of delivering sewer pipe to Glen park and especially of his experiences when, for a couple of years, he drove an ice wagon in what must have been one of the seamier sections of town.As a young man, Mike enjoyed sports. In Donora he had played on a football team called the Donora Independents. There was a Catholic base ball league in northern Lake County and Mike was the catcher on the St. Emeric's team for a while. If they were short players, the priest would play outfield for them. Mike described it as fun with a good crowd to watch. In August, 1924, at the First Hungarian Reformed church, Mike married Elizabeth Bazin, daughter of John and Barbara Bazin. Shortly thereafter Mike was injured at the mill when he was crushed between the crane and a wall. He was fitted with a brace but the mill doctors as well as the doctors at Mayo's Clinic offered little hope that he would return to normal activities. Although time and perseverance proved them wrong, he did suffer pain from the injury all of his life. Even as his memory was failing in old age, he would speak of the horrors of that accident. However, it did not prevent him from completing over 40 years of service at U.S. Steel's Gary Works before he retired in 1958.In 1925 Mike and Elizabeth had a son, Michael Eugene, who attended Jefferson School then on to Horace Mann. There were no more children until 1943 when their daughter, Linda Sue, was born. By that time their son was a student at Purdue University and soon joined the Army Air Corps where he became a navigator. Both Mike and Elizabeth completed their naturalization process to become American citizens in 1946. The following year their son married Dorothy Wildermuth. He then went on to graduate from Purdue, move to Michigan, and rear three sons. Linda graduated from Horace Mann High School, married Ted Drygas, and moved to Hobart. In 1974 Ted was killed in an accident. After Linda reared their two sons, Anthony and Andrew, she married Joseph Garcia.Mike and Elizabeth lived at 840 Van Buren St. all of their married life until about 1968 when they moved to 5140 Delaware. Elizabeth's health began to fail and she died in 1970. Mike lived alone for about ive years then took up residence with his daughter. He died in 1987. He was a man whose devotion to parents and his family, loyalty to his employer, and integrity of person earned respect from all who knew him. Dottie's notes in preparation of info for minister before Dad Vekasi's funeral.Michael Vekasi was born September 1, 1892, in Nagy Szelmenc, Ung Megye, Hungary to Peter and Julianna (Pataki) Vekasi. He came to America about 1901 with his mother to join his father, who had come earlier. They first lived near Pittsburgh, then moved to Donora, PA, where they lived until he was about 18 when the family moved to Gary, IN. Dad remembered his youth in Donora with enthusiasm despite hard economic times. He spoke of swimming in the Monongahela River, skating on home made skates and sledding on the Pennsylvania hills. All of his life he remembered a particular grade school teacher with great respect appreciation.At an early age Dad Vekasi began contributing to the family's income as a delivery boy then a helper on a meat wagon. These were the first of many experiences that opened his eyes to some of the world's undesirables and their unethical ways. Despite this influence, however, he chose the path of honesty and morality that served him in good stead all his life, and his loyalty to his parents never wavered.As a young man, Dad participated in sports--baseball, football and even a brief fling at boxing. He loved to show the picture of his football team and tell stories of some rough and tumble baseball games.Dad was not married until he was in his 30's when he met and married Elizabeth Bazin. Almost coincidental with the marriage was a very serious accident at the steel mill (where he was a crane operator) which crushed his hips and condemned him to recurrent pain the rest of his life. Despite the doctor's predictions that he would never walk again, he not only walked, but eventually returned to the mill and gave them 44 years of service. His marriage was a life-long commitment. I remember how caring he always was of Elizabeth, his wife, and his irreconcilable grief at her sudden passing in 1970.Dad always seemed to have a special affinity for small children from the birth of his own son to his great-grandchildren. In a letter to his wife from Mayo Clinic where he was receiving treatment for the injuries from the mill accident, he speaks of his love of her and his thrill over their baby boy. Eighteen years, later when Linda was born, he must have felt especially blessed. I watched him through Linda's childhood and she was his pride and joy.When we came for a visit with our three little boys, he always seemed to know just the right thing to do to entertain them. We never lived close enough to give him frequent contact with our boys, but by the time Linda had her children, Dad was retired and Anthony and Andrew were the light of his life. Even in these later years when most of the time Dad mind withdrew into a world of his own, a visit from one of his small great-grandchildren brought the old light to his eyes and we'd hear his special chuckle again.
Source:Sumbitted by: Dorothy Wildermuth Vekasi - dvekasi@aol.comNOTE: I have written several biographies which were published in Lake County Heritage, in 1990, with Ann Weitgenant, Project Director and Supported by The Friends of the Library. This is one of them...