Zoltan "Sid" Antal Szabó, the oldest of five children born to Hungarian immigrants, Zsigmond "James" Szabó (1887-1955) and Ilona "Helen" Fintor (1893-1960) was born on Mar 29, 1914 in East Chicago, IN. Hungarian was his first language. His four siblings were Bela "Bill" (1916-2000), Antal "Tony" (1919-2000), Ilona "Helen" Szabó-Solack (1921-2009) and Lillian "Lilly" Szabó-Misita (1925-2005). In 1917-18 James moved the family to the Hungarian section of Cleveland known at the time as "Little Hungary". In 1921 he moved the family to Lorain, thirty miles west of Cleveland where he and his wife Helen settled permanently.
Sid attended Lorain High School until his father removed him from school at the age of sixteen to work at local farms to help support the family. Shortly thereafter he became one of the estimated 250,000 teenagers of the great depression who left home and "hit the rails" seeking a better life. He traveled across country and worked at various jobs which included picking dates in Indio, CA and a short stint as a Fireman on the railroad. When he returned to Lorain he worked at the WPA. In 1938 he took up flying and obtained a pilot's license. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve Corps in the same year.
On April 30, 1938, in Lorain, he married Marianna "Mary Ann" Teresa Catanzarite, the oldest daughter of Ferdinando "Fred" Catanzarite (1892-1963) and Maria Rosa "Rose" Gallo (1896-1973), immigrants from Reggio Calabria, Italy. His first two sons, Richard (1939) and James (1940) were born in Lorain. In 1939 he obtained work in Lorain as a Crane Follower for U.S. Steel. On Aug 31, 1942 he was discharged from the U.S. Army Reserve Corps.
In 1943 Sid moved his family to Los Angeles where he obtained work at the Bethlehem Ship Yard in San Pedro. On April 27, 1944 he was inducted into the U.S. Army. After basic and advanced training in Mississippi he was shipped to the ETO in Dec 1944 where he served as a Tech 5, Telephone Repeater and Carrier Man until his return to the U.S. in Jan 1946. He was honorably discharged from the Army on Jan 28 of the same year.
In 1946 Sid moved his family to Pacoima, CA where he began working in construction as a Lather. He built his own home there in his spare time on week-ends. He constructed the garage first where the family lived for two years while he worked on the house. His third son, David, was born in 1948 shortly after the house was completed. In 1957 he moved to Sylmar, CA and began working as a Tool and Die Maker for Turbo Products and later, Zero Manufacturing. He lived in Sylmar for the remainder of his life.
Sid was a very intelligent, self educated man. He enjoyed hunting and salt water fishing and he was constantly occupied with projects. In the early fifties he bought a junked, two seat, Aeronca monoplane and re-built it in his back yard. He flew the plane for years out of Whitman Airport in Pacoima. He never lost the wanderlust and desire for freedom he developed as a teenager. He loved the southwestern desert and made many gold prospecting trips to remote areas of Southern California and Arizona. He analyzed the mineral content of the rocks he obtained prospecting with a spectrograph that he built in his garage. In the mid-fifties he drove a WWII Amphibious Personnel Carrier that he purchased and rebuilt complete with fording gear. His last project was the construction of a one man, hydrogen peroxide powered helicopter.
He was proud of his Hungarian heritage and spoke the language all of his life. He will be remembered as a devoted family man. He liked his beer, but acted always as a gentleman.
In 1976 Sid was permanently disabled by a genetic disorder that attacks the body's organs. This condition led to his death in the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Sepulveda, CA in 1980 at the age of sixty-six.
Sid attended Lorain High School until his father removed him from school at the age of sixteen to work at local farms to help support the family. Shortly thereafter he became one of the estimated 250,000 teenagers of the great depression who left home and "hit the rails" seeking a better life. He traveled across country and worked at various jobs which included picking dates in Indio, CA and a short stint as a Fireman on the railroad. When he returned to Lorain he worked at the WPA. In 1938 he took up flying and obtained a pilot's license. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve Corps in the same year.
On April 30, 1938, in Lorain, he married Marianna "Mary Ann" Teresa Catanzarite, the oldest daughter of Ferdinando "Fred" Catanzarite (1892-1963) and Maria Rosa "Rose" Gallo (1896-1973), immigrants from Reggio Calabria, Italy. His first two sons, Richard (1939) and James (1940) were born in Lorain. In 1939 he obtained work in Lorain as a Crane Follower for U.S. Steel. On Aug 31, 1942 he was discharged from the U.S. Army Reserve Corps.
In 1943 Sid moved his family to Los Angeles where he obtained work at the Bethlehem Ship Yard in San Pedro. On April 27, 1944 he was inducted into the U.S. Army. After basic and advanced training in Mississippi he was shipped to the ETO in Dec 1944 where he served as a Tech 5, Telephone Repeater and Carrier Man until his return to the U.S. in Jan 1946. He was honorably discharged from the Army on Jan 28 of the same year.
In 1946 Sid moved his family to Pacoima, CA where he began working in construction as a Lather. He built his own home there in his spare time on week-ends. He constructed the garage first where the family lived for two years while he worked on the house. His third son, David, was born in 1948 shortly after the house was completed. In 1957 he moved to Sylmar, CA and began working as a Tool and Die Maker for Turbo Products and later, Zero Manufacturing. He lived in Sylmar for the remainder of his life.
Sid was a very intelligent, self educated man. He enjoyed hunting and salt water fishing and he was constantly occupied with projects. In the early fifties he bought a junked, two seat, Aeronca monoplane and re-built it in his back yard. He flew the plane for years out of Whitman Airport in Pacoima. He never lost the wanderlust and desire for freedom he developed as a teenager. He loved the southwestern desert and made many gold prospecting trips to remote areas of Southern California and Arizona. He analyzed the mineral content of the rocks he obtained prospecting with a spectrograph that he built in his garage. In the mid-fifties he drove a WWII Amphibious Personnel Carrier that he purchased and rebuilt complete with fording gear. His last project was the construction of a one man, hydrogen peroxide powered helicopter.
He was proud of his Hungarian heritage and spoke the language all of his life. He will be remembered as a devoted family man. He liked his beer, but acted always as a gentleman.
In 1976 Sid was permanently disabled by a genetic disorder that attacks the body's organs. This condition led to his death in the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Sepulveda, CA in 1980 at the age of sixty-six.
Zoltan "Sid" Antal Szabó, the oldest of five children born to Hungarian immigrants, Zsigmond "James" Szabó (1887-1955) and Ilona "Helen" Fintor (1893-1960) was born on Mar 29, 1914 in East Chicago, IN. Hungarian was his first language. His four siblings were Bela "Bill" (1916-2000), Antal "Tony" (1919-2000), Ilona "Helen" Szabó-Solack (1921-2009) and Lillian "Lilly" Szabó-Misita (1925-2005). In 1917-18 James moved the family to the Hungarian section of Cleveland known at the time as "Little Hungary". In 1921 he moved the family to Lorain, thirty miles west of Cleveland where he and his wife Helen settled permanently.
Sid attended Lorain High School until his father removed him from school at the age of sixteen to work at local farms to help support the family. Shortly thereafter he became one of the estimated 250,000 teenagers of the great depression who left home and "hit the rails" seeking a better life. He traveled across country and worked at various jobs which included picking dates in Indio, CA and a short stint as a Fireman on the railroad. When he returned to Lorain he worked at the WPA. In 1938 he took up flying and obtained a pilot's license. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve Corps in the same year.
On April 30, 1938, in Lorain, he married Marianna "Mary Ann" Teresa Catanzarite, the oldest daughter of Ferdinando "Fred" Catanzarite (1892-1963) and Maria Rosa "Rose" Gallo (1896-1973), immigrants from Reggio Calabria, Italy. His first two sons, Richard (1939) and James (1940) were born in Lorain. In 1939 he obtained work in Lorain as a Crane Follower for U.S. Steel. On Aug 31, 1942 he was discharged from the U.S. Army Reserve Corps.
In 1943 Sid moved his family to Los Angeles where he obtained work at the Bethlehem Ship Yard in San Pedro. On April 27, 1944 he was inducted into the U.S. Army. After basic and advanced training in Mississippi he was shipped to the ETO in Dec 1944 where he served as a Tech 5, Telephone Repeater and Carrier Man until his return to the U.S. in Jan 1946. He was honorably discharged from the Army on Jan 28 of the same year.
In 1946 Sid moved his family to Pacoima, CA where he began working in construction as a Lather. He built his own home there in his spare time on week-ends. He constructed the garage first where the family lived for two years while he worked on the house. His third son, David, was born in 1948 shortly after the house was completed. In 1957 he moved to Sylmar, CA and began working as a Tool and Die Maker for Turbo Products and later, Zero Manufacturing. He lived in Sylmar for the remainder of his life.
Sid was a very intelligent, self educated man. He enjoyed hunting and salt water fishing and he was constantly occupied with projects. In the early fifties he bought a junked, two seat, Aeronca monoplane and re-built it in his back yard. He flew the plane for years out of Whitman Airport in Pacoima. He never lost the wanderlust and desire for freedom he developed as a teenager. He loved the southwestern desert and made many gold prospecting trips to remote areas of Southern California and Arizona. He analyzed the mineral content of the rocks he obtained prospecting with a spectrograph that he built in his garage. In the mid-fifties he drove a WWII Amphibious Personnel Carrier that he purchased and rebuilt complete with fording gear. His last project was the construction of a one man, hydrogen peroxide powered helicopter.
He was proud of his Hungarian heritage and spoke the language all of his life. He will be remembered as a devoted family man. He liked his beer, but acted always as a gentleman.
In 1976 Sid was permanently disabled by a genetic disorder that attacks the body's organs. This condition led to his death in the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Sepulveda, CA in 1980 at the age of sixty-six.
Sid attended Lorain High School until his father removed him from school at the age of sixteen to work at local farms to help support the family. Shortly thereafter he became one of the estimated 250,000 teenagers of the great depression who left home and "hit the rails" seeking a better life. He traveled across country and worked at various jobs which included picking dates in Indio, CA and a short stint as a Fireman on the railroad. When he returned to Lorain he worked at the WPA. In 1938 he took up flying and obtained a pilot's license. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve Corps in the same year.
On April 30, 1938, in Lorain, he married Marianna "Mary Ann" Teresa Catanzarite, the oldest daughter of Ferdinando "Fred" Catanzarite (1892-1963) and Maria Rosa "Rose" Gallo (1896-1973), immigrants from Reggio Calabria, Italy. His first two sons, Richard (1939) and James (1940) were born in Lorain. In 1939 he obtained work in Lorain as a Crane Follower for U.S. Steel. On Aug 31, 1942 he was discharged from the U.S. Army Reserve Corps.
In 1943 Sid moved his family to Los Angeles where he obtained work at the Bethlehem Ship Yard in San Pedro. On April 27, 1944 he was inducted into the U.S. Army. After basic and advanced training in Mississippi he was shipped to the ETO in Dec 1944 where he served as a Tech 5, Telephone Repeater and Carrier Man until his return to the U.S. in Jan 1946. He was honorably discharged from the Army on Jan 28 of the same year.
In 1946 Sid moved his family to Pacoima, CA where he began working in construction as a Lather. He built his own home there in his spare time on week-ends. He constructed the garage first where the family lived for two years while he worked on the house. His third son, David, was born in 1948 shortly after the house was completed. In 1957 he moved to Sylmar, CA and began working as a Tool and Die Maker for Turbo Products and later, Zero Manufacturing. He lived in Sylmar for the remainder of his life.
Sid was a very intelligent, self educated man. He enjoyed hunting and salt water fishing and he was constantly occupied with projects. In the early fifties he bought a junked, two seat, Aeronca monoplane and re-built it in his back yard. He flew the plane for years out of Whitman Airport in Pacoima. He never lost the wanderlust and desire for freedom he developed as a teenager. He loved the southwestern desert and made many gold prospecting trips to remote areas of Southern California and Arizona. He analyzed the mineral content of the rocks he obtained prospecting with a spectrograph that he built in his garage. In the mid-fifties he drove a WWII Amphibious Personnel Carrier that he purchased and rebuilt complete with fording gear. His last project was the construction of a one man, hydrogen peroxide powered helicopter.
He was proud of his Hungarian heritage and spoke the language all of his life. He will be remembered as a devoted family man. He liked his beer, but acted always as a gentleman.
In 1976 Sid was permanently disabled by a genetic disorder that attacks the body's organs. This condition led to his death in the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Sepulveda, CA in 1980 at the age of sixty-six.
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