1920
2013
Dr. Geza Kadar
1920 - 2013
Dr. Geza Kadar, whose fate and career as a diplomat and educator caused him to move and rebuild his life in four different countries, passed away on November 24th in Budapest, Hungary.
Dr. Kadar was born in Budapest in 1920 during the turmoil at the end of World War I when the victors were carving up Hungary's historic borders at the Trianon Convention. His father, a poorly-paid government notary in the then-Hungarian sector of Croatia, was forced to evacuate and the family lost all of its possessions. Back in Budapest, his father died when Kadar was only three years old and his mother took a job as a postal clerk. In 1930, he earned a full scholarship to a fine secondary school, which he maintained with a distinguished record of scholarship. During his high school and university years, Kadar was active in the recently-formed Boy Scout movement and the Hungarian Reformed Church. He thrilled at attending the Fourth World Scouting Jamboree in 1934.
He was admitted to law school in Budapest and, in 1938, as an exchange student, was taking courses at the University of Berlin shortly before World War II began. For sending critical reports to his contacts in Budapest on the rising tide of fascism and German anti-semitism, he was harassed by German authorities and expelled from Germany. Back in Budapest, he became an active member of the secretive Movement for Hungarian Independence, a small group of Hungarian nationalists that opposed the German occupation of Hungary in 1944 and resisted the communists who became active after Russians troops replaced the Germans.
Dr. Kadar served as a foreign service officer in the first post-World War II government in Hungary. His first assignments were as administrative assistant to the Prime Minister, Zoltan Tildy, and then Ference Nagy. Just as he was coming of age professionally, he was swept up in the post-war communist terror-wave in Hungary. In January of 1947, when the Communist Party with the support of the Russian Army overthrew Hungary's first democratically-elected government, he was arrested by the secret police (AVO) and confined first, at the infamous Andrassy Street prison, and then at the Marko Street prison. Before beginning his sentence for alleged "crimes against the new Peoples Republic of Hungary," Kadar was given hospital treatment for a neglected leg injury and, while under less rigorous police supervision, he was able to escape. He reunited with his bride of less than a year, Shari Kadar, and with the help of his brother-in-law, the couple walked across the Austrian border in the winter of 1948. His first son, Geza Jr., was born that September in a refugee camp in Zurich, Switzerland.
When international tensions seemed to be flaring again in 1949, the family moved to Melbourne, Australia. During eight very difficult years, with remarkable support from his versatile and talented wife, Kadar built a house by hand without power tools, obtained a teaching credential from the University of Melbourne, and added a son, Bence, and a daughter, Kathy, to the family.
In the fall of 1957, a letter arrived from the US State Department inquiring whether the family was still interested in coming to the United States. Forever grateful that their original application was not forgotten in the US bureaucracy, the family sold everything, packed up and immigrated to California, where Dr. Kadar found a teaching position at Ridgeview Junior High School in Napa. When Napa College was created in 1964, he joined the original faculty as a professor of Germanic studies and humanities. As the division chairman of the language department, he helped to design and install the college's state-of-the art foreign-language training laboratory. He retired in 1984.
No one was more surprised by the fall of the Iron Curtain and the collapse of communism in Hungary in 1989 than Dr. Kadar. When President Bush started a Peace Corps program in Hungary with language-training specialists specifically requested by the Hungarian Government, he volunteered, was selected, and departed for Budapest in 1990. His wife Shari had by this time launched a successful career as a sculptor and painter and preferred to stay in Napa. They divorced in 2000.
Dr. Kadar spent the last phase of his 85-year career consulting and supporting the fledgling democracy in his beloved homeland. After two years of teaching English to students at the University of Agriculture, he was offered a consulting position at the Ministry of Education to assist in the creation of a Hungarian junior college system. In 1995, Dr. Kadar's contribution to his homeland was recognized at a ceremony where the President of Hungary awarded him a national Medal of Honor. A month before he died, he was recognized by the Hungarian Parliament for being one of the oldest living Hungarian diplomats and for his work in the Movement for Hungarian Independence. He often told his family that this was one of the proudest moments in his life.
In his last 10 years in Budapest, he finally felt the satisfaction of being home. He followed every twist and turn in national politics from the safety and comfort of the John Calvin Home, where he lived with his new partner in life, Aniko Kovacs.
Dr. Kadar is survived by two of his three children, Kathy Kadar Pauletich, of Redding, CA and Geza Kadar, Jr. of Santa Rosa, CA and by his daughters-in law, Barbara Kadar of Irvine, CA, and Tara Harvey of Santa Rosa. His son, Bence Kadar, died in a sporting accident in 2010. He is also survived by five grandchildren, Elliot and Andrew Kadar, Lisa Kadar Pursley, Brian Kadar, and Myles Pauletich, and two great grandchildren, Quinn and Emma Pursley. A memorial service will be held in the community room of the library at Napa College on Sunday, December 29th at 2 pm.
To paraphrase Dr. Seuss: "We don't cry because his life is over, we smile because it happened."
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Reading about your father's extraordinary life, Kathy, made it clear where the passion and dedication that forged you into one of my daughter's best teachers came from. Heart-felt condolences to you and Myles.
Linda Wright
December 28, 2013
I feel lucky to have had him as a French teacher at Ridgeview Junior High.
Richard Bunch
December 24, 2013
I knew immediately when I saw his name that I had been one of his students at Ridgeview in Napa. I've posted the yearbook photo on this site as well. Besides the French, he also taught me that my grade didn't just depend on my scholarship, but also my classroom comportment. I thought I'd earned an A, and he agreed that I'd get one when I settled down in class and let the other students learn as much as they could without my joking around interfering with their studies. He was definitely "old school" in his ways, but very effective. I also learned that he had quite a sense of humor, but that the time for us to joke around was after class. What a surprise to learn that he was such an accomplished gentleman. It was an honor to have known him (and I probably still speak French with a slight Hungarian accent). My condolences to his family.
Steve Fischer
December 21, 2013
December 21, 2013
Dr. Kadar was my French teacher at Ridgeview Junior High School. It was his first encounter with American students who had no clue that you had to arrive on time for class (he quickly corrected this by letting us stay after class the same number of minutes that we had "wasted"). But he also taught us French. With completely (for American students) new ideas and methods such as vocabulary and grammar notebooks, school notebooks, homework notebooks, weekly newsflashes and monthly great French projects for the classroom, memorizing and reciting in front of the class (including singing "La Marseillaise"!) and of course, weekly tests--we were immersed in French culture and learned our French. Dr. Kadar was also my German teacher in Senior High and I enjoyed it so much, I majored in it, went to Germany to study it and ended up marrying a German and living there for 42 years. So, I guess one could say that Dr. Kadar had quite a lot of influence on how my life turned out. And I thank him for it.
I became a French teacher in Germany and, believe it or not, had my students learn the exact "exercise" Dr. Kadar had taught us: we had to draw a map of France on the board, giving a running commentary (in French) of what we were doing, putting the regions, mountains, rivers and cities in the right places. I wish I could have told Dr. Kadar that. I think he would have been proud--first, that I could even remember it after 30 years and secondly, that it was being passed on to the next generation. Besides all his other, wonderful achievements, I will always remember him as a teacher--and what a brilliant teacher he was. I'll never forget him. "Vive Monsieur Kadar" and "Lang lebe Herr Kadar"!
Karen Wendel
December 20, 2013
Kathy and Myles, we are so very sorry to hear that Dad/Grandpa passed away. He was obviously an extraordinary soul, and it has been an honor and privilege to know his extraordinary daughter and grandson. You are in our thoughts and prayers.
Laurie & Don Burk
December 19, 2013
We are sorry to learn about the passing of Dr. Kadar, but grateful for his service as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Hungary.
Our Condolences,
The National Peace Corps Association
December 19, 2013
Kathy and Myles: I was amazed at the challenging and meaningful life Dr. Kadar had. Then I read your names. I hope Myles had a chance to know him well. It's hard to see a well lived life end, but it was well lived.
Gary Crawford MD
December 18, 2013
The memorial at Napa Junior College was cancelled. A private small family gathering will take place at a future date.
Kathy Kadar Pauletich
December 18, 2013
The Napa College Memorial has been canceled. A private family gathering, instead, will be held in Santa Rosa.
December 18, 2013
Kathy, your dad was an amazing man who raised an amazing woman.
Robyne Hartman
December 18, 2013
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