12/26/2004 - In Memoriam
Dr. Francis Vitez, Bishop Emeritus and pastor of the John Calvin Magyar Reformed Church in Perth Amboy, passed away on Sunday, Dec. 26, 2004.
He was the son of Andras Vitez and Erszebet Varga, and was born in Gyorke, Abauj-Torna County, Hungary, on Aug. 12, 1920. He was a descendant of one of the oldest families of Hungary.
Dr. Vitez came to the United States in 1949 and was ordained on May 25, 1952. He served in Hungarian Reformed churches in Cleveland, Ohio, Springdale and Rankin, Pa., before being elected pastor of John Calvin Magyar Reformed Church of Perth Amboy and supply pastor of the Hungarian Reformed Church of Rossville, Staten Island, N.Y., in 1955. He had served as pastor of these congregations for nearly 50 years. He recently presided over the 75th anniversary of the John Calvin Magyar Reformed Church this past September. Rev. Vitez graduated with honors from the Hungarian Realgimnazium in Kassa, Hungary, in 1941, received his Reformed Ministers Diploma with honors in 1947 from the Reformed Theological Seminar in Sarospatak, Hungary. He also studied at the Free Protestant Theological Seminary, part of the Sorbonne University in Paris, in 1947. Francis earned his master of theology degree in 1955 from Western Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh, Pa., a master of arts degree in Hungarian history and literature in 1965 from Columbia University, New York City, and took graduate courses at Princeton Theological Seminary and at the Library School of Columbia University. He received his doctor of ministry degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1978.
Bishop Vitez was active in many community, cultural and ecclesiastic organizations, including the American Hungarian Federation, Hungarian Reformed Ministers Association, the Hungarian Presbyters Association, the Bethlen Home Board of Directors, the Calvin Synod Youth Camp, the Perth Amboy Clergy Association, Hungarian Reformed Federation of America and the Board of Directors of the Hungarian Foundation. Additionally, he held many elected positions including bishop and auxiliary bishop of the Calvin Synod, dean and secretary of the Eastern Classis of the Calvin Synod, a member of the General Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Churches of Hungary, United Church of Christ General Synod delegrate, and vice president of the World Federation of Hungarian Reformed Churches. For over 15 years he was editor of the oldest Hungarian Reformed Church paper, the Calvin Synod Herald-Reformatusok Lapja.
In 1974, he was initiated into the Johanniter Knightly Order of St. John of the Hospital of Jerusalem. Additionally, he was an accomplished poet and was awarded the Gold Medal by the Hungarian Academy in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1992 for his work "Oszi Verofenyben," a group of selected poems.
His publications include Tanitas es imadsagok (Teachings and Prayers) in 1956; Megujulo egyhaz (Renewing Church) in 1965; the Hungarian Bible in 1975; and Religious Education in the Hungarian Reformed Church in the USA, in 1980. In 2001 he published a Hungarian prayer book entitled "Messzefoldrol."
He is survived by three children, Julianna Poznan and her husband, the Rev. Bela Poznan, of Fairfield, Conn., Imre Vitez and his wife, Sandra, of Whitehouse Station and Ilona Mueller and her husband, Thomas, of Thousand Oaks, Calif.; seven grandchildren, Kristina and Attila Poznan, Kaitlyn, Zachary and Samuel Vitez, and Annalee and Pamela Mueller; a brother, Miklos Vitez in Hungary, and a sister, Irene Szantai in Felvidek, Hungary. He was married to Vilma Phillips (Filep) in 1956, who had worked faithfully at his side for nearly 45 years. She passed away in 1999.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Francis Vitez Memorial Fund, c/o John Calvin Magyar Reformed Church, 493 Amboy Ave., Perth Amboy, NJ 08861. (Published in the Home News Tribune 12/28/04)
He will be missed - may he rest in peace.
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