Anna Szigyarto

Anna Szigyarto was born in the township of Kistarcsa, just outside of Budapest, Hungary, a country she loved. She studied and worked as a mechanical draftswoman, married her first husband, Hugo Welk, a newspaper reporter. Later, she remarried and with her second husband, Karoly Gyuris, fled the country during the dark days of the 1956 Hungarian popular revolt against the Communist regime and Russian occupation of the country.

As refugees from Hungary, Anna and Karoly, an engineer, soon found work in Austria, then moved on to Germany and eventually settled in the then prosperous Venezuela. Their two sons, Norbert and Attila, remained in Hungary with relatives and later joined their parents in Venezuela in 1960. Years later, the family moved to the U.S.A. where Anna married her third husband, Benedek Kovacs, and where she nurtured her love of dogs, raising beautiful Dalmatians. She worked at Honeywell Corporation until she retired. Following her retirement, she helped her husband set up his tool and die business in Gardena, California.

When Ben died, Anna, a fiercely independent woman, moved to New Zealand in search of a healthier life style.

She returned to the U.S. only to leave the country again, this time to live in Mexico where she fell seriously ill. Her sons “rescued” her and brought her back to the U.S. She went to live with Norbert’s family in Texas where she was nursed back to health. In Houston she met her fourth husband, a gentleman from Pakistan, Aqueel Rahman, but their marriage was short-lived as Aqueel died during the Hurricane Rita emergency evacuation from the city.

Anna was a fanatic about living a healthy life style, preferring raw, organic foods. However, she eventually succumbed to a stroke which required 24/7 care and during her last 16 years she lived in Houston with her son Norbert and his wife Helen.

Anna was an intelligent, generous person who loved her children and grandchildren. She loved to play Hungarian folk songs on the piano and loved to dance. She was fluent in three languages--Hungarian, Spanish and English—and loved a good joke. But, above all, she was an animal lover. Her faithful companion Misha accompanied her during her daily wheelchair strolls. She also loved to sit outside in the garden wearing her favorite hat and read, read, read.

She is survived by her sister Gita and husband Werner Ostler; her sons Norbert Welk and wife Helen; and Attila Gyuris and wife Susy; her three grandchildren Kristen Welk Moolchan and husband Abbie, Sonny Matthew Welk and wife Dawn, and young Alex Gyuris; her seven great-grandchildren Gavin, Angela, Julian, Isabelle, Adrian, Olivia and Isaac; her cousins Geza and Hanni;

and other distant relatives here in America and abroad.

Our gratitude and special appreciation to Eva Gutierrez and her sweet mother Joli, two Jehovah’s Witnesses,

who sustained Anna through her long spiritual journey for many years until the very end.