Elizabeth Bochi

1925 - 2015

(news story) Elizabeth C. "Betty" Bochi, whose focus in many volunteer efforts - often alongside her sister Gizella "Gizi" Bochi - was East Toledo's Birmingham neighborhood and its Hungarian-American heritage, died Sunday in the home the sisters shared. She was 90.

Her nephew Robert found her when she couldn't be reached Sunday She'd been folding clothes, he said. Her sister Gizi, 94, died Sept. 2. "She wasn't ill or hurting. I think brokenhearted, more than anything," her nephew said.

The 41st annual Birmingham Ethnic Festival in August was dedicated to the sisters.

"They had a lifetime together," said Peter Ujvagi, a longtime eastside resident, business owner, and public official. "Both Betty and Gizi really exemplified the love of community, the love of church, the love of neighbors. It is in many ways the end of an era."

Miss Bochi said they were brought up to take part in the community, but the sisters "were not leaders, we were followers," she told The Blade in September. "We didn't want to be praised for anything. We just wanted to help and be involved."

She volunteered at the East Toledo Family Center. The sisters were charter members of the women's auxiliary of VFW Post 4906. At St. Stephen Church, they were Eucharistic ministers and members of the Altar and Rosary societies and pitched in during church functions. They were members of Friends of Birmingham Library.

"The two of them, they did everything together. That was the beauty of it all," said nephew Robert, son of their late brother, Andrew Bochi, Jr. "Where you saw one, you saw the other."

The sisters readily learned traditional Hungarian embroidery when it was revived by the late Rev. Martin Hernady, who was pastor of St. Stephen, and took part in embroidery groups there and at Calvin United Church of Christ. On their own, they made afghans and other items - Betty was a knitter, and Gizi crocheted.

Betty was born May 2, 1925, to Katherine and Andrew Bochi in Detroit, where the family lived for a time. They later returned to Birmingham, and Miss Bochi was a 1944 graduate of Waite High School.

She was a sales clerk at the Tiedtke's store downtown and at Stein's, a women's clothing store. She was a member of United Auto Workers Local 12 and helped organize its blood drives. She retired in the 1980s.

She and her sister traveled the world, including trips to Hungary and the Vatican, where they met Pope Paul VI.

Surviving is her brother, Joseph "Clark" Bochi.

Visitation is 2-8 p.m. today in the Eggleston Meinert & Pavley Funeral Home, Oregon chapel, with a Rosary service at 4 p.m. and a VFW auxiliary service at 6 p.m. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Friday in St. Stephen Church, where the body will be after 10 a.m.

The family suggests tributes to the church; the Birmingham branch of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, or the cancer fund of VFW Post 4906.

This story was written by Blade Staff Writer Mark Zaborney. Contact him at: mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.