Ilona Irén Mária Török (Láng)
Our mother was born and christened Ilona Irén Mária Láng (Ica) in the Hungarian town of Szepesváralja on 11th February 1916. Following the Versailles Treaty at the close of World War I, this part of Hungary was annexed to the newly created country Czechoslovakia, making her family refugees who migrated to the northern Hungarian town of Miskolc.
Her father, Ede Mihály Láng, descended from the Zipser Germans, originating 300 years ago from Germany. Tragically, after World War II, the Zipser Germans were forcibly relocated to Germany by the Allies, and all attempts to reconnect have so far failed. The town of her birth has been renamed Spišské Podhradie and is now part of Slovakia. Her mother was Irén Gizella Bucsegh born Rimaverbölz now called Rimavská Slovakia. Ica had a younger sister Ibolya (Duci) Somogyvári (Láng) who had no children.
Ica completed her High School Teacher’s diploma specialising in Mathematics and Music. In the Autumn, on 5th October 1940 she married Béla Török at the famous Szent István (Stephen) Basilica in Budapest. Their children were: László born on 16th September 1942., Béla on 6th October 1943 and András 27th June 1945.
Upon arriving in Australia, she worked in the kitchen of the two migrant camps for two years. After moving to their home in Guildford, she worked in Sydney for many years as a clerk at Walton Sears, a large department store and EMI Electronics, a manufacturer of TVs, radios and vinyl records. She retired in the early 1970s.
After her retirement, our family purchased her a piano which brought her immense joy as she revived her musical talents. Ica initiated the decision to relocate to Burwood, a central position in Western Sydney, which helped our father to expand his accounting practice.
