Anne Klausz

Anne Klausz, 97, passed away on November 13, 2025 in Middlebury, Vermont. All 7 of her granchildren
gathered from near and far to be with her. Her two daughters, Ann and Agi were also with her.
She lived an extraordinary life.
Born in a small village in Hungary she survived WWIl after being taken from her place of work by the
Nazis at the age of 16. She spent almost two years living a life that was fraught with chaos and danger
and eventually was moved to a holding camp in Germany. It was there that Anna Regolics met her first
husband, John Klausz whom she married at the age of 18 after she was able to find her way back home
to Budapest.
Three children later while living in the suburbs of Budapest, the Hungarian Revolution broke out in 1956.
The Russian army squelched the outbreak and her husband decided to emigrate to the United States. It
was one month later that a former border guard showed up at her home to escort her and her children,
then aged eight, five and two out of Hungary. The escape entailed jumping out of train windows, running
into Russian soldiers (who turned and walked away), running across a no mans land with bullets flying to
arrive in Austria. From Austria the family made their way north to Bremen and embarked on a US
warship arriving in Camp Kilmer, NJ on February 1, 1957. The final leg of this journey brought her to
Long Island, New York where she gave birth to her 4th child and raised her 2 boys and 2 girls.
Adapting to life in Hempstead, NY was not easy. No english, no money, no close family. A secretary in
Hungary, Anne did what she had to do to ensure the family's survival. She would clean a house and then
go to the market to buy food to feed the family. Her husband John also took whatever work he could
find. But a strong work ethic and survival instinct prevailed. She learned English. She learned to drive.
She learned how to adapt to life in America and eventually thrived. All of her children earned advanced
degrees and went on to have successful work and private lives.
John and Anne divorced in 1973. She remarried in 1977. That marriage also ended in divorce in 1998. It
was then that she moved to Bradenton, Florida where she spent 25 happy years before coming to
Vermont to live close to one of her daughters in assisted living as she had been diagnosed with late
onset Alzheimers.
If you are Hungarian you will understand the role that food and family plays in daily life. It is often said
that the discussion at lunch is what will be served for dinner. And the Klausz clan was and continues to
be no exception. Anne was a great cook and a master baker. Every year after Thanksgiving the baking
would begin and every member of the family would receive a package of Hungarian pastries and cookies
for Christmas. This was a massive undertaking that she relished doing. But no more than those of us on
the receiving end. We will all miss this yearly ritual.
Anne is predeceased by her two sons, John and Steven. She is survived by her two daughters, Ann
Klausz Aron and Agnes Klausz-Baier. She is also survived by seven grandchildren, Erica Friedman and
Peter Klausz, Zachary and Jesse Klausz, Alexandra Baldwin and Jake Aron, Sasha Reck, two daughters
in law, Polly Adams and Katherine Sinclaire and 11 great grandchildren.
A mass will be said in her honor with the date and place to be announced. In the spring the family will
gather in New York Harbor to honor her memory where a plaque at Ellis Island marks her great voyage to
America.
Rest in peace Anyu. You earned it