Ilona Zajos

Ilona Zajos, 82, passed away peacefully surrounded by family Tues., Aug. 2nd, 2022 4:50 pm at Morristown, Medical Center after a brief illness and will now be forever reunited with her late husband, Beno. Ilona was born in Vezseny, Hungary. Upon finishing high school in Szolnok, she attended Kossuth Zsuzsanna University in Szeged to complete a degree in nursing. She would eventually practice as a registered nurse at the eye clinic within Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Medical University. She met Beno, the man who she would eventually marry and start a new life with in Hungary. They married August 6, 1976 in Szeged and about a year later moved to Franklin, NJ in the US briefly before finding their permanent home in Wharton, NJ and where she would raise her two sons, Frank and Paul. She was very proud of them and ensured that they grew up to be fine, young men. She was active for many years with Hungarian Presbyterian Church in Wharton, volunteering with various special occasions to cook stuffed cabbage, gulyas, hurka, kolbasz, kiflis, amongst other Hungarian delicacies. As years went by, she attended church services with her sons at Hungarian Reformed Church in Passaic, NJ and most recently as a member at Magyar Reformed Church in New Brunswick, NJ. Outside of cooking, her passion was gardening and enjoyed spending countless hours tending to her vegetable garden, which brought her much joy to see it flourish. She would proudly share the Hungarian peppers and other vegetables she would grow with neighbors and friends alike. She made sure her sons remained close to their Hungarian heritage by giving them the opportunity to learn their mother and father's native language. She also traveled to Hungary with them many times. She attended many Hungarian events in the NJ/PA area with them. She also enjoyed reading Hungarian novels, watching old Hungarian films, and crossword puzzles. She also worked in manufacturing for 18 years, first at Johanson Manufacturing Corporation in Boonton, NJ and then eventually retiring from Artisan Controls Corporation in Randolph, NJ in 2011. She is pre-deceased by her husband Beno of 45 years, her mother, also Ilona (Mezo), father Kalman (Csontos) and brother, also Kalman (Csontos). She is survived by her two loving and eternally devoted sons, Frank of Wharton, Paul, daughter-in-law Rebecca, grandson Zoltan and granddaughter Ella, who was just born April 1st, all of Boonton Twp; a nephew, Kalman Csontos, a niece, Manyi Csontos, and first cousins removed Csaba Zoboki and Sandor Zoboki, all of Hungary. Arrangements have been entrusted into the care of S.J. Priola Parsippany Funeral Services, Lake Hiawatha, NJ. The family is asking in lieu of flowers, please send donations in Ilona's memory to Magyar Reformed Church, 175 Somerset Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901. Cremation and services will be private.