It is with sincere regret and sadness that we inform you of the death of our longtime friend, Paul (Pál) Fekete, who passed away of heart failure on September 3rd, in Florida, with his wife Éva at his side. Pál was a founding member of the Hungarian Alumni Association and of the Hungarian American Coalition.

Pál Fekete was born on February 26, 1925, in Hungary. He came to the US, together with his family, as part of the wave of refugees after the Hungarian Revolution in 1956.

In the United States, he worked as a senior research scientist at Johnson & Johnson. Meanwhile he enrolled in evening classes at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. He then became the founding member of the organization “Hungarian Students at Rutgers University”. Later, he continued to work for the Hungarian Alumni Association – György Bessenyei Circle.

Pál and his wife, who was a teacher at the Association’s Hungarian Saturday Classes, were active participants in helping students learn the basics of Hungarian reading, writing, speaking, composition, history, literature, folk songs, and folk art.

Pál Fekete was also an expert and a main organizer of the Hungarian Alumni Association’s exhibitions of Hungarian folk art, as well as its oral history project, the “History-makers Testify” (Tanúk-korukról) program, which provided a forum for individuals who played key roles in changing or influencing Hungarian history to discuss their experiences.

Pál and Éva had resided on Longboat Key, FL, since 1994. Survivors include a daughter, Esther of New Jersey; a son, Ákos, and his family in Seattle; grandchildren Spencer, Evan, Tim and Christopher; and great-grandchildren Alivia and Jacob.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Kossuth Club, P.O. Box 19774, Sarasota, FL 34276.