I am the great-grandson of Elizabeth Churi and John
Levai, who lived in Hejce, Hungary. When John died in the latter part of the 19th century, Elizabeth took her four children, Elizabeth, Susan, Rose and John to
New York and vacinity where they found work as domestics. Elizabeth married John
Bunyak and had eight children. Susan married Steve Katrensky in 1889. Rose married Mady and had seven children. John had three.
In 1892 or 93 Elizabeth, the Bunyaks, Katrensky's and other family members emigrated to the Kaposvar Hungarian settlement near present day Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, Canada, where they took up homesteads.
My father, John Katrensky, was one of 16 children of Susan and Stephen. My father married Irene
Diemert in 1928. I am one of three children born on the original Katrensky homestead.
The "
Levai" spelling is correct, except that in Hungary the e has an acute accent, which I cannot reproduce in this e-mail. My spelling of Hejce is also correct.
The original spelling of Katrensky included a z, Katrenszky. When I was a child, my parents and a few other Katrensky's shortened and "Anglicized" the name to Atrens.
If you are interested, I have additional information on the Bunyak's and the Katrensky's and some photos.
In May of 2002, I did my "roots" visit to the Hungarian villages where my grandparents were born.
The village of Hejce is in a poor region of North-Eastern Hungary, with few signs of modernization. I found there a resident from San Francisco who was able to do some translating for me. There are many
Levai grave stones in the Reformed Church (Calvinist) cemetery in Hejce, but there are apparently no living
Levai in the area. I was told there was a family with a Churi connection living there, but they were away on holidays. I do have pictures of Hejce that I can e-mail if you wish.
Best wishes
Jerome Atrens
2601 - 1050 Burrard Street
Vancouver, B.C. Canada, V6Z 2S3
604-801-6833
jeromeatrens@shaw.ca