Alajos VITEZ
Written by his daughter
Aggie
My dad had many aliases, Alajos was his given name but quickly Canadianized himself with Louie and Louis. He was born May 12, 1935 in Bosarkany, Hungary. He was the oldest of 5 siblings. His parents relied on him a lot. By the time he was 10 years old he would be herding sheep, miles away from his family and spending many nights sleeping on haystacks, this would last weeks and weeks.
As he grew and became a young man he worked in a Grocery Store, in Gyor. He met my mother in this town. She worked at the Nursery School and would see my dad often. They became friends that would eventually lead them to a lifetime of love and companionship. Dads greatest love was Soccer and he was really good at it. It started in his teen years and carried him through to adulthood.
Louie was called up to join the Communist Army. He was a rebel from the get go, and many times he’d go A-Wall and would disappear . Each time he’d be caught and taken back. He’d always go on a hunt to find my mother. He would try and talk her into leaving Hungry and coming to Canada. He would do this on several occasions until he wore her down and she said yes.
On the evening of December 10, 1956 they decided they would leave all that they knew behind. No one knew except my Aunt Tereza who took the message back to their mothers.
With visions of prosperity ahead and dreams in their eyes, they did it. It wasn’t easy, they snuck through bomb fields crawling through the night with nothing. The rumour was my mother had shoe polish in her purse, so she could clean and shine her shoes when they made it across. They eventually made it across to Austria. They married officially December 26, 1956 and stayed in a Refugee Camp until it was their turn to immigrate to the land of freedom and prosperity. At this point, they had a few choices. Australia, United States and Canada.
Canada was first to accept them and they accepted . They left by Ocean Liner in 1957 and landed in St. John, New Brunswick. From there they had no choice, the choice was made for them. They were assigned to go to Lethbridge, Alberta. On landing , pure devastation on their faces as they saw nothing, no big city like they imagined. They second guessed themselves because they felt it looked poorer here, where it was suppose to be amble opportunities and prosperity. They quickly realized this was not the case. They ended up in a very remote area working on a Sugar Beet Farm and living in a shack with no running water, holes in the walls etc. They cried and cried. They worked from sun up to sun down picking sugar beets. They had no escape, one it was a contract and two they knew no English. They made $4.00 a day. They made it through and the contract was up.
My dad met a Dutch man in a bar and asked my dad “work, you need job, you want to work“ my dad said “yes”, tomorrow I pick you up at your address and you work! My dad nodded. This job was working on the Pipelines, also the bonus was they got living arrangements. My mom was left by herself during the week, my dad was gone working and only came home weekends. This was very hard work because it was the actual digging part. The best part was he made $4.00 an hour and quickly realized he struck gold. He worked 12 hour days and made overtime. This lasted 4 months from December to April. They saved every penny and bought nothing only the very bare minimum. They saved $8,000.00. My dad would bring bags of food home at the end of the week for my mother. She would make sure that this would sustain the two of them. They saved every cent. To this day my mom’s favourite fruit are grapes and bananas.
They sent a letter to Hungry and waited for a reply. They knew my Godparents were in Toronto somewhere. They made their way to Toronto and with their help they got jobs washing dishes.
Shortly after my dad landed a job at a lumber yard and worked there for a while. He went to night school to learn English with my mom. The struggle was real. Soon after in 1959 the twins were born. So much joy. They were able to secure a semi detached house that they rented. Life was hard but getting better, slowly. During her pregnancy they washed dishes at night. After the birth of the twins my mom stayed home while my dad hustled for work. Soon after the twins were born in January my mom was pregnant again. They couldn’t believe it! It was like winning the lottery twice. They were expecting twins again, this time, girls. They were born in February. Now in 13 months they had 4 children. Life was great, until devastation happened the following January and their sweet baby girl died in his arms as he drove frantically to the hospital. It was truly devastating! Their baby girl “Maria” died. That same year pregnancy happened again, the year was 1961, another boy. This would be their family unit as they built a beautiful life together. Lots of love, heartbreak, and hard work.
Dad had many loves. First was soccer, cards every weekend with friends. His love was very strong with the Hungarian Community. He was very involved with The Hungarian House as well as The Church. He also loved wrestling and became my brothers coach. He loved people and always had a houseful.
My dad was able to land a job at General Electric, where he worked for many years. At night he remained at night school improving his English. They saved and saved and bought their first house in Scarborough on Falmouth Avenue where we spent our life. They were hard workers and great savers and were given an opportunity to buy land on Lake St. John, where they built their family cottage. Lots of blood, sweat and tears went into it. It was so joyful spending time at the cottage. There was also lots of friends and family. The cottage to this day brings so much happiness.
As time went by, the kids grew. He worked many side jobs as a self taught plumber. Also, Louie landed a job teaching Tool & Dye at Centennial College where he spent his 26 years until retirement. Not too bad for a man with Grade 8 education.
My parents were great travelers and have been to many places, they gave us so many beautiful memories with travel to Hungary etc. we also travelled through Europe in a Volkswagen Mini-Bus. They travelled to many islands and also enjoyed Florida. They decided to buy a piece of paradise and loved spending their winters there. This was their love for over 20 years. They were in their glory. They had the cottage, a home in Scarborough and a home in Florida. Finally everything they worked for they could enjoy.
Slowly the kids got married, grandchildren and great grandchildren followed. Their life was complete. They loved their family so much and bragged about them to anyone that would listen. There was no greater joy to them than family.
Today they’ve been married for 66 years and their accomplishments are bigger than life and their love has endured many struggles and sacrifices. But the greatest love is Family!
May you rest in eternal peace! His life was truly lived and loved to the fullest. We all love you and this is not good-bye but until we all meet again! Maria is waiting for you!
