John Stephen Szilagyi

John was born Dec. 25, 1932 near Owosso, Michigan, to Stephen and Marion (White) Szilagyi. He lived and worked most of his life in the Owosso area, keeping a summer cottage and later retiring to Central Lake, and spending winters in Zephyrhills, Florida.

A graduate of Owosso High School, class of 1951, John spent most of his career as a railroad employee, first as a locomotive fireman and then as an engineer, with the Ann Arbor Railroad; the Detroit, Toledo, & Ironton; the Tuscola & Saginaw Bay; and Conrail systems, retiring in 1995. He logged hundreds of thousands of miles hauling freight and switching cars in and between countless towns and cities, including Owosso, Durand, Toledo, Ann Arbor, Frankfort, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Mason, Fort Wayne, and Marion, Indiana.

John was married to Peggy (Mason) Szilagyi from 1965 until her passing in 2021. He and Peggy traveled extensively over those years, taking trips -- sometimes flying, sometimes driving, often pulling one of a series of campers or trailers, and usually stopping at a casino or two along the way -- to the Bahamas, Bonaire, Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Texas, Las Vegas, and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Each trip had its own stories and adventures, always recounted around a crowded dining room table or roaring campfire.

John will be remembered as an avid hunter and fisherman, bagging his last big buck at age 72, and filling his freezer for years with everything from panfish to coho salmon, along with venison, bear, squirrel, raccoon, turtle, and "anything that won't eat me first."

He also briefly owned and operated "a little beer garden," Johnny's Bar, in Owosso's West Town, along with Modern Septic Service, in the late 1960's and early 1970's.

He is survived by his children Kathleen (David) Hunt of Ovid, Steven (Joy) Szilagyi of Mason, Linda Remsburg (partner Scott Schuhmacher) of Gwinn, and Chuck Beattie of Owosso; nine grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; several cousins; and several nieces and nephews.

A remembrance celebration and luncheon for family and friends will take place Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at 1 p.m. at the United Church of Ovid, 131 W. Front St., Ovid, Michigan 48866

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in memory of John either to the Shiawassee Conservation Association, 4247 N. M-52, Owosso, MI. 48867, or Clarke Historical Library at Central Michigan University, which maintains the Ann Arbor Railroad archives, at giving.apps.cmich.edu/donate/libraries specified for the Clarke Historical Library Associates Program.