Sister Angela Homoki-Szabo 1927-2024

Sister Angela Homoki-Szabo, a Hungarian Sister of Social Service who was forced to study her faith in secret, passed away May 23, 2024.

Sister Angela was born May 10, 1927, in Szentkirály, a village in the Great Plain region of Hungary. Her parents, Pál and Ilona, were farmers and had nine children, Ilona (Helen) was their firstborn. She later took the religious name Angela. As she was the oldest child, it became natural for her to help in taking care of her younger siblings. This caring attitude accompanied her during her entire life.

 She attended grade school in her hometown and high school in Kecskemet. Although she felt the call to religious life, she could not follow her desire as the Communist regime in Hungary outlawed religious orders.

She worked as a clerk, until she got a chance to work for the Church as a sacristan. During this time, she got involved with the Catholic Girls’ Association, which was also pushed underground. One of the leaders of this group was a Sister of Social Service, who taught Sister Angela about the community. Sister Angela courageously responded to the new opportunity to give her life to God and entered the Sisters of Social Service. While in her hometown she herself led underground groups of girls, four of them eventually joined the sisters’ community.

In 1954, she moved to Budapest where she could pursue her religious formation underground. During this time, she supported herself as a housekeeper and nanny. The revolution of 1956 brought the hope of freedom to Hungary, but the uprising was soon defeated by the Soviet troops. While the iron curtain was open for a short while, eight novices, among them Sister Angela, were told to escape and to head to the Buffalo novitiate. There, she was finally able to follow her dream to freely give herself entirely to the Lord. During novitiate she was one of the group mothers in the home for Emotionally Disturbed Children in Syracuse.
She took her first vows in 1960, and her final vows in 1967. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Social Welfare at D’Youville College and an master’s in Social Work (gerontology) at SUNY Buffalo and worked in different ministries serving the elderly at Black Rock and the Office for Aging in Buffalo, and then managed the local Telephone Assurance Program until her retirement in 1989.

Sister Angela was active in formation work In her religious community from 1962 to 1989.

From 1975 to 2015, she served in various positions in the district and the general leadership. She was district moderator 1991-2000 and 2012-1015. From 2000 on, she worked in the archives of the community, managing the materials and organizing the photos.

Besides her ministries, she was well known for her cooking, gardening and camping skills. Sister Angela spent her last years at the Wellness Center of the SSJ in Clarence where she continued to attend to her sisters living there.

A funeral Mass will be Wednesday May 29 at 11 a.m. at the Sister of St. Joseph Residence in Clarence.