Piroska Szabo

Piroska Szabó (née Fodor), 80, of Lewis Center, Ohio, passed away in the early morning hours of Thursday, December 11, 2025, following longstanding health issues.

Piroska was born on March 15, 1945, in Poroszló, Hungary. At the age of five, she moved with her family to Budapest, where she attended school on the Pest side of the city and later completed a two-year community college program in architecture. She worked in the field in Budapest thereafter, continuing until the family’s move to the United States. Her mother, also named Piroska, lived nearby, and family remained a central anchor throughout her life.

She met her husband, Attila Szabó, at around seventeen years of age, and they remained together from that time forward.

Earlier in her life, Piroska carried primary responsibility for the home and family during her husband’s work in Indonesia. Following that period, the family returned to Budapest, where their son Krisztián was born and raised in early childhood. During this time, Piroska balanced professional work with raising her son, who attended a pre-kindergarten daycare during the workday.

In late 1984, Piroska moved with her husband and young son to Bucyrus, Ohio, in support of Attila’s work with General Electric, eventually settling on the southwest side of Bucyrus. She took on the work of establishing a stable home while adapting to life in a new country and language.

Over the years, the family relocated several times in support of work and education—within Bucyrus, to Connecticut, back to Ohio, and later to Lewis Center, so that her son could attend Columbus Academy. As part of that move, the family built their home in Lewis Center, where Piroska’s input reflected her professional training and eye for design. She supported her son’s education in countless practical ways, including driving him to school each day until he was licensed.

During the family’s time in Connecticut, they welcomed a wire-haired fox terrier named Sammy, who became especially bonded with Piroska and was most content by her side. Sammy passed away while Krisztián was away at university in Baltimore.

Later, as her husband’s career took him abroad—including work as a plant manager in Xiamen, China—Piroska divided her time between the family home in the United States and an apartment in China. Travel became a defining feature of her life, with holidays spent across Asia, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, including many Christmases in Singapore and visits to the United Arab Emirates.

Piroska will be remembered for her steady care for her family and home, and for the way she encouraged curiosity, openness, and creativity. Through travel and exposure to different cultures, she helped broaden her son’s understanding of the world, nurturing a lifelong sense of perspective, empathy, and imagination.

She was predeceased by her parents, including her mother, Piroska, who passed away in 2007, and her father, Imre, who died in 1981.

She is survived by her husband Attila Szabó, her son Krisztián Szabó, and her daughter-in-law Adrienne Elizabeth Szabó.