Aug 23, 1931 – Oct 10, 2021
After slamming the door in death’s face for the better part of 6 weeks, our beloved father and patriarch of the family, exhausted himself and begrudgingly left our world for the next. Our father lived a remarkable life filled with love, passion, adventure, hard work and many athletic and artistic achievements. Karoly (Karl) was born in Budapest, Hungary and was the only child of Martin Sandor and Eszter Laszlo, both of whom tragically died when he was young. He started working in his early teens, selling firewood and bread buns made by his aunt to the Russian soldiers that occupied Budapest during WWII. After high school, he entered the upholstery trade, but was conscripted into the army in short order. Though he had a healthy (and lifelong) disdain for authority, he rose to the rank of Lieutenant and became the senior communications officer for his division. He was a crack shot and won and placed well in various army marksman events. He was also very active in athletics and held the army record for the obstacle distance event and was competitive in the elite single canoe and cross country running events. He loved to sing and dance and he met the love of his life, our mother Margaret, at a dance club while on a weekend pass. Karl and Margaret married in 1955. As a special wedding gift to the newlyweds, Karl’s tightly knit group of friends, sawed through the bed legs in the hotel room where they spent their wedding night. Karl’s band of buddies were a lively bunch and over the years we heard many stories of their high jinx including one New Year’s Eve when they carried our mother on their shoulders in an elegant lounge chair right out the front door of the posh Gellert Hotel in Budapest.
Dark times came and the Hungarian revolution followed in 1956. Allegiance to an army controlled by a foreign power, commanding rifles be turned on its own people, was impossible. Hard choices were made and Karl and his young bride left Hungary with the clothes on their backs. They were captured on their way to the Austrian border and taken to a train station where hundreds of prisoners waited to be taken to prison camps or worse. Karl maneuvered himself and Margaret into the washroom where they escaped by crawling out of the poorly secured window. They hid in the railway station culvert until nightfall, then made their way into a farmer’s field and hid in a haystack infested with mice. Margaret directed that they should head towards the gunfire, that being the likely location of the border. They made it across the Austrian border by bribing the guard with Margaret’s wedding ring. Karl bought a ticket to Vienna by selling Margaret’s boots and managed to register himself and Margaret as refugees to be shipped out to England. Within weeks of leaving Hungary, Karl was cleaning toilets at a construction site in England and Margret was washing floors in the local TB ward. Neither could speak a word of English. Canada accepted them as refugees in 1957, placing them in Edmonton with all of the other refugees whose last names started with an “S”.
Refugees were not always welcomed with open arms in Edmonton. Karl was a man who could handle himself and he objected to being called a “DP” (displaced person). Absent a retraction or apology, Karl would flatten the fellow. Details of his decades long history of boxing prowess will remain locked in the family vault. Karl fell in love with Vancouver after spending a weekend there on a job. A week after his visit, the family moved to Vancouver, where he and Margaret lived for the rest of their lives. Karl opened an upholstery shop on Davie Street, just west of Granville Street in the West End of Vancouver. He made gorgeous high end speciality furniture and even designed a couple of stunning evening gowns for Margaret. Zoning bylaws changed and sadly, he was forced to close his shop. Karl went on to have a long and successful career in plumbing supply and sales at Goldberg Plumbing and then Milani Plumbing, where he and the late Mr. Milani, Sr. would go to the back office and sing old Italian love songs.
Karl was a published poet, playwright and author of many short stories and several novels. He wrote everyday and had an encyclopedic knowledge of literature and philosophy. He made lifelong friends amongst some of the literati at the CBC and UBC and was one of the original members of the Thursday night writing club which met weekly for over forty years. You would think he couldn’t have time for anything else, but he was a tornado of a man. He was an avid swimmer and was a fixture at the old Crystal Pool and then the Vancouver Aquatic Centre until he and Margaret moved out to UBC. He frequently wowed us with his signature gymnastic pike hold handstand dive off of the spring board. He executed that dive until he was 70. Karl swam competitively into his early 80’s and he filled a box with medals, mostly gold ones. In his late 70’s, Karl taught himself to read and play music. He took up the violin for a brief time, testing Margaret’s love no doubt, but sensibly turned to composing and by his mid 80’s had composed a variety of pieces and was working on an opera at the time of his death.
Karl loved children, beautiful women (and most of all Margaret), and animals, especially his cats. He was very close to his daughters and taught them all the skills necessary for a successful life including how to dance, shoot, throw a knife and build a shelter in the forest. He adored his grandchildren and would engage with them in whatever interest or challenge they were pursuing. He taught them how to play chess, kick a soccer ball and most importantly of all, to have confidence in themselves. We shared many family dinners where we would feast, drink, have spirited discussions and often laugh until we cried. His annual birthday parties were legendary and Karl would be in the thick of things dancing, singing with the band, giving away prizes and making sure everybody felt welcome and had a good time. You could get exhausted just watching him.
Karl and Margaret were married for 66 years and when Margaret passed away on March 2, 2021, he was utterly heart broken. On October 10, 2021, Karl passed away and was reunited with his beloved Margaret. He died with family by his side, each daughter holding one of his hands. The tornado that was Karl is still charting a course somewhere in the universe and his memory, spirit and love of life will forever be strong and burn bright in our hearts. Left to grieve our beloved father are his daughters Esther (Jock) and Martha (Campbell), grandchildren Hannah (Anthony), Dashiell and Hailey, and his cousin Frank Levay and many others in Hungary and around the world. Also left to grieve Karl are the legions of jewelers and florists who supplied Karl with the many beautiful baubles and bouquets he showered on his family. A celebration of life for our parents will be held in the Spring and in accordance with Karl’s wishes, there will be lots of champagne. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to PEN International. Condolences and any thoughts you would like to share may be left at Hamiltonharronfunerals.com.
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