Thomas Bodnar Legeza's Obituary
Thomas Bodnár Legeza, 91, of Parma, passed away March 30, 2016.
Beloved husband of Marianne (nee Urban); cherished father of Adrienne (Doug) Challinor, Paul, Thomas, and Suzanne Legeza, and Karen (Jobie) Dotson; loving grandfather of Aaron and Jonathan Zedella, Scott Legeza, Thomas and Bianca Legeza-Narvaez; and many relatives in Hungary.
Thomas grew up in Hungary and was a survivor of Dresden. He was educated in engineering sciences at the Ecole Centrale Polytechnique in Paris, France with a master’s degree. Concurrently, he also earned a degree in piano performance at the Conservatoire International de Paris.
After graduation, he spent one year in the Dominican Republic before arriving in the United States. Thomas was a champion saber fencer. He was awarded 38 medals and was inducted in 1984 in the Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame. He continued playing piano for family and friends throughout the years along with his wife, Marianne, also an accomplished pianist. His hobbies included photography, traveling to national parks, and the opera. He was a member of the Cleveland Photographic Society, the Cleveland Astronomical Society, and CFINO. He also loved taking courses at Tri-C in the Encore program. Thomas was fluent in five languages. He had been self-employed in engineering services for 25 years.
A Memorial Service will be held at 2 p.m., Sunday, April 3, 2016, at Sunset Chapel, 6245 Columbia Rd., North Olmsted, OH 44070.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Cleveland Hungarian Heritage Museum, www.clevelandhungarianmuseum.org.
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