Ethel Lengyel

Ethel was born on February 17, 1936 in Sarretudvari, Hungary. She was the baby in a family of four siblings. She had a wonderful upbringing as a young child, but things became harder in her later life. Her Father – Kiss Gyula passed away when she was young, leaving her to grow up too soon. She started working with her Mom running a bar, helping in the fields, tending to the animals, selling the harvest at the farmers market, and helping her grandmother, who was a doula, delivering new born babies. She traveled to the city of Budapest when she was 16 and started working in a bakery. She met the love of her life on the way home on the bus. George – who later became her husband, was the bus driver. After a short courtship, the revolution of 1956 broke out in Hungary and they decided to flee the uprising. Together with several other friends, they headed to the Austrian border. After several days of hiding and traveling in the night, they managed to cross the border to safety. From Austria, they traveled to France, where they got married in Montbéliard, France. They took the first opportunity that was offered to them as a married couple, which was to immigrate to Canada. They settled in Sudbury. Ethel worked as a cook and George worked in the nickel mines. Their first child George was born in 1960. Although life was perfect, they wanted to travel back home to Hungary and pick up their life there. In 1964 they set sail for Hungary. Settling in Budapest, their second child, Susan was born in 1964. After several years of living under communist regime, George decided to immigrate once more, this time to the United States of America in 1972. He settled in Front Royal, VA, and brought his family over in 1974. Ethel traveled to the US with her two children to reunite the family, but it was a short lived plan. After a year, she and her two children returned to Hungary and lived there ‘till 1978, when she and her children permanently moved back to the US. The family settled down in Front Royal and she worked as a seamstress. It took her two years to switch over to work in the field of nursing. She was a nurse in Hungary and taking care of people was her passion. She worked as a nurse for 25 years. After retiring, she became an active member of the Hungarian community around Washington DC. She was a founding member of the Hungarian Freedom Fighters Federation and active in the Hungarian Embassy events. A well respected member of the Hungarian community, she was known for her ability to bring people together with food. She was an avid and excellent cook, as well as superb pastry expert. She not only enjoyed cooking for her family and friends, she also cooked for the elderly in the Hungarian community. She organized a monthly luncheon where good food and friendships were the core of the gatherings. She was well into her 80’s cooking and baking for large gatherings. Ethel also enjoyed singing and dancing. She attended as many Hungarian Balls as she could. She also enjoyed writing poetry. Her poems were published in Canada as well as the United States. She published a book of her favorite poems in 2016. She was a respected member of the Poetry Society of America. Ethel passed away on October 26, 2022 in her home, surrounded by her family. She was 86 years old.

A memorial service will be held for Ethel on Saturday, November 5th at 1:00 p.m. at Wesley Theological Seminary, 4500 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington DC.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.NationalFH-MP.com for the Lengyel family.