Alice Falvy

Alice Marton Falvy, born February 24, 1931 in Debrecen, Hungary returned to our Heavenly Father on June 15, 2019 in Billings, Montana 2 weeks after a heart attack. Her last 6 weeks on this earth were filled with celebration as two of her grandchildren graduated from college and high school, and another embarked on a study trip to Hungary to learn about her heritage. Anyu/Nene was a force of nature and nurture, as anyone who knew her throughout her life can attest. If preparing and serving delicious food is a love language, she spoke it fluently. Alice's early years in Hungary were idyllic. Even though she was a ‘military brat' because her father was a Hungarian officer in the Cavalry, she was often surrounded by a large extended family. Alice and her brother Peter and cousins Andrew and Zoltán spent endless hours playing and exploring. She was riding a horse before she could walk! (or so the legend goes). She also enjoyed hunting, hiking, and doing anything the boys were doing. She was very proud that she was the first of the 4 of them to become a Hungarian Scout, which became a lifelong constant and joy which she served with dedication. Life in the Hungarian countryside was good! When she was only 14 in 1945 her family fled Hungary in advance of the invading Soviet forces. Her father, an officer in the Hungarian military and later captured by the Soviets, did not go with them, rather her mother and her aunt took their combined 4 children and became a family unit. They spent 4 years in post-war Germany as DPs (displaced persons), with her father joining them after the war ended and he was released by the Soviets. During this challenging and uncertain time, they lived in several places, but mostly Munich. Alice's education was interrupted by the war and when possible, she went to school. She was able to continue her Hungarian Scouting as the Hungarian Scout Association In Exteris was in its founding stages. This meant she was able to go to camp, leadership development, and develop relationships that would last a lifetime. The man who would become her husband was one of its founding members. The family found sponsors and were granted visas in 1949 and sailed to the US, going to their sponsor family in Wisconsin where they worked as domestics and farm hands. Alice was able to complete her high school education at the Eden Hall Sacre Coeur in Pennsylvania as a boarder. For the first few years the family moved several times, finally settling down in Newark, New Jersey. After high school, Alice attended Manhattanville College for one year on scholarship, but then returned to New Jersey to her family where she went to college part time and worked. In 1955 the family moved to Southern California, which is where she lived the majority of her adult life. She attended UCLA for a while. In 1956 she volunteered to be a translator for the transports that were bringing Hungarian refugees to the US after the Hungarian Revolution. She flew several months with them. In 1959-60 she spent a year living in Munich with her best friend Eva Hardy working and traveling throughout Europe. After her return to the US she worked as a draftsperson and that was her career until starting a family. She loved design, building and all things mechanical. Yes, she was the one who did all the projects around the house! As a youth Alice played field hockey in high school as goalie but her primary passion was riding and showing horses. She was able to pursue this passion in California in the 1960's. Having been raised by a professional horseman she loved the horse, the tournaments and competed riding dressage. Growing up we marveled at her collection of ribbons from this time. In 1965 she married George Falvy in Los Angeles, CA. She had known him back in Germany in the late 40's as her friend Márta's older brother. Together they raised three children: Andrea, Ilona and Gábor. Their lives revolved around the Hungarian community: Hungarian Scouting, St Stephen of Hungary Catholic Church and School, family and friends. All the core values of faith, commitment, generosity, service, self- discipline, love, and hard work were passed on to their children in this stable environment, most especially the family home and Cserkészet (scouting). Alice was famous for being the camp cook at every Cserkész Tabor (scout camp) where she dished out food, discipline and love in equal measure. She also pitched in wherever needed, whether that was driving a van load of kids or teaching how to tie knots. George was her quiet but steady side kick who also gave freely of his time whenever possible to the Hungarian community. Alice cooked dinner from scratch every single night and it was always served at 6 p.m. sharp! Nothing gave her more joy than when her children invited friends over and she had more mouths to feed and more stories to listen to. Big sleepovers were always welcome as well as pool parties, random visitors from abroad or anyone who just needed a hand up in life. Seemed like no matter how tight things might have been at times, there was always enough space and food to go around. Their magnified joy started when their first grandchild, Jessica was born in 1993. That ushered in a new era where the same devotion she had to her children found a home in her grandchildren. She loved them unconditionally and took great delight in all their accomplishments, great and small. Her devotion to Jessica and her brother Joshua was especially deep as they lived with her for a while and she was intimately involved in their lives. Her heart nearly broke when her grandson Joshua lost his life way too young. She breathed a sigh of relief when Ilona got married to Ted in 2010 and she gained two step-grandchildren in Alex and Holden Smith. 3 years later we all celebrated the unexpected arrival of her youngest grandchild Zoltán. She was interested in everything her grandchildren did up until her last breath. In May she was able to attend both Alexa and Michael's graduations from college and high school respectively, celebrate Jessica's trip to Hungary to immerse herself in Hungarian culture and spend time with Zoltán. In her final days she saw or spoke by phone to each one of them. A few years after George passed away in 2008, she moved to Billings, Montana to be near Andrea and her family. It was a peaceful time during which she adapted to winter living, learned about baseball attending Michael's games whenever she could, discussed books and life with Alexa, regaled us with unexpected stories and comments during frequent family dinners, enjoyed outings and lots of sports events! She also would travel to Ilona's in California for an extended visit every winter to avoid the worst of the Montana weather. The big annual Thanksgiving gatherings at Andrea and Robin's became a blessed time of all of us coming together. Alice was preceded in death by her brother Péter, her father Alajos, her mother Pálma, grandson Joshua, and several other family members. Mourning her are her children: Andrea (Robin) Horrell, Ilona (Ted Smith) Falvy and Gábor Falvy; her grandchildren: Jessica Falvy, Alexa Horrell, Michael Horrell, Alex Smith, Holden Smith, and Zoltán Falvy Smith and her cousin Zoltán Baranyi and his family along with several other relatives and friends throughout the world. Funeral mass will be celebrated on July 9th, 11 a.m. at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Billings, Montana. A memorial mass at St. Stephen of Hungary Catholic Church in Los Angeles is also being planned. In lieu of flowers to honor Alice's memory we welcome friends to make a donation to: Hungarian Scout Troops 8 & 49, c/o Mary Toth, 32316 Phantom Dr, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275 ‘Memory of Alice Falvy' in memo line please. Riverstone Hospice House of Billings, or a charity of your choice.