Zoltan Cseri Sr.

ZOLTAN CSERI SR.

Iowa City

Zoltan Cseri Sr., father, husband, engineer, multiple patent-holder, tinkerer, gardener, artisan bread baker, homemade winemaker, pickle and veggies canner, and political junkie, passed away peacefully on Oct. 26, 2016.

Zoltan was born in Abony, Hungary, on Feb. 8, 1931, to Joseph and Maria Cseri. His carefree childhood ended abruptly during World War II when his family escaped from the communist regime by hiding under burlap sacks in the back of a truck to Austria. He spent his teen years as a refugee in Germany and France. Surviving a refugee train bombing, being shot at by soldiers, and near starvation, his family resettled outside of Chicago in 1955, and Zoltan became an American citizen soon thereafter.

Not one to take for granted how fortunate he was, he often shared with his children the story of his family eating orange peels discarded by soldiers on the roadside. On a family trip to Europe in 1988, Zoltan included visits to the towns he had lived in during the war and found the people who housed him so he could thank them.

Zoltan worked in a factory in northern Indiana while he studied engineering at Purdue University in the 1950s. He then helped to support his parents and paid for his brother's college education. The bulk of his career was as a mechanical engineer in the railway and trucking industry.

Forever creative and resourceful, Zoltan never stopped using his engineer's drafting table. Even in his last days, he asked the hospital nurse for paper and pencil so he could continue to draw mechanical improvements to his device designs and had suggestions on how the hospital room could have been arranged more efficiently.

As a teenager in the foothills of France, Zoltan would run for miles, logging his times before running was in vogue. In his 20s, he added competitive fencing. He taught himself to play the harmonica, which came in handy at parties. Driving around the suburbs of Chicago, where he and his wife, Elizabeth, raised their children, he usually had classical music blaring, with one hand on the steering wheel while the other "conducted" the orchestra. Always learning, at the age of 70 he took up bread baking. And given a chance he would engage anyone in a lively political discussion.

Surviving are his wife, Elizabeth Cseri; daughter, Tundi (Nate) Brady of Iowa City; son, Zoltan Cseri Jr. of Kirkwood, Mo.; and grandchildren, Emmy, Phinny, Esti and Dexter Brady of Iowa City and Béla, Fiona and Tate Cseri of Kirkwood, Mo.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Géza Cseri; and granddaughter, Beatrix Brady.

Per Zoltan's wishes, no service will be held and the family will have a private memorial gathering. A garden-lover, he would be pleased with flowers to celebrate his life. But his thrifty nature would be disappointed if mourners bought anything fancier than budget-buy carnations and would be delighted if they were bought on sale.

Donations in Zoltan's name may be made to Iowa City Hospice.

Online condolences may be left for the family at www.lensingfuneral.com.