Balint J. Pongratz

Balint J. Pongratz, of Hanover, Massachusetts, passed away on May 13, 2024, at the age of 87. Born on December 15, 1936, in Szamosujvar, Hungary, he was the son of the late v. Dr. Simon and Anna (Lengyel) Pongratz. He was raised and educated in Hungary and immigrated to the United States in 1957.
At the age of 16, Balint asked his father for a motorcycle. Since his father knew a man who owned a garage, he was sent there. Balint returned home with a bag full of motorcycle parts, and while his siblings laughed, he went to work. In the morning, the family woke up to find Balint riding his motorcycle around the yard. That was just the beginning of a life filled with his love of fixing things.
At the age of 19, during the Hungarian Revolution, many Russian tanks invaded Budapest. Balint found a cannon behind the church in Soroksar that had no firing pin, so he made one and brought it to the Corvin where the fighting was taking place. That cannon was responsible for disabling 13 Russian tanks. Balint was a member of the Hungarian Freedom Fighters and was Knighted by the Order of the Vitez in Budapest in 2004 for his role in the Hungarian Revolution.
Balint was a true patriot. After leaving his homeland on foot, walking 3 days and 3 nights through the woods, crossing a ditch filled with icy water, he arrived in Austria with his brother Andy and two friends. From Austria, they went to England on a train/ferry, crossing the English Channel and eventually to America via Ellis Island. Balint joined the U.S. Army in 1960. He was deployed to Germany, where, because of his superior marksmanship skills and physical fitness, he was trained to be a machine gunner in an infantry platoon. Later, when paratrooper training occurred, he did not want to jump out of a plane, so instead, chose Orientation and Ranger Training and became an Army Ranger. After an Honorable Discharge, Balint returned to the U.S. and, shortly thereafter, joined his 3 brothers as member of Pongratz Enterprises. He opened and managed Diamond Cleaners in Quincy among other businesses, laundromats, and household appliance repair stores. Pongratz Enterprises, owned by the 4 brothers, was responsible for the seed money for the entire Pongratz Family's success in the United States. A few years later, he became a first-class mechanic and held a Commercial Driver's License. He drove for many trucking companies driving 400hp 18-wheelers from New Hampshire to Connecticut.
Balint was a true Renaissance man creative, ingenious, and had an innate knowledge of physics and engineering. He was an avid hunter, soccer player, self-taught tailor, enjoyed fishing, and could fix just about anything from a pocket watch to a tractor trailer, and he could make a man a 3-piece suit, with a silk lining, with just the man's measurements.
Balint loved and was devoted to his wife, the late Eleanore M. (Buba), for almost 50 years, even caring for her at home while she was bedridden in the last years of her life. Balint is survived by his two children, Marianne V. Pongratz of Randolph and Balint J. Pongratz Jr. of Hanover, and his dear brother Andrew Pongratz of Arizona. He was the brother of the late Simon, Anna, Erno, Edmund, Gergely, Christopher, and Maria. He also had many cherished nieces and nephews, and dear friends, and was a role model to them all.
A Funeral Mass will be held in his honor on Thursday, May 23rd at 9am at Our Lady of the Angels Parish (St. Mary's Church), 392 Hanover St. (Route 139), Hanover. The Committal service will be in Massachusetts National Cemetery, Connery Ave., Bourne at 1:45pm.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Balint's memory may be made to the American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) at www.apdaparkinson.org